Donald Trump had a blazing row with a reporter over a photograph showing an illegal immigrant’s alleged gang tattoo during a TV interview on Tuesday.
Speaking to an ABC News journalist, the US president insisted that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador, had “MS-13” tattooed on his knuckles.
“You’ll pick out one man, but even the man that you picked out, he said he wasn’t a member of a gang, and then they looked and on his knuckles he had MS-13,” Mr Trump said.
The image Mr Trump referred to shows the man’s knuckles tattooed with symbols of a marijuana plant, a smile, a cross and a skull. The letters “MS-13” have been added above the symbols to show what they are alleged to represent.
Terry Moran, the reporter, told Mr Trump that the meaning of Garcia’s tattoos was disputed before trying to move the conversation onto the war in Ukraine.
“Wait a minute, he had “MS-13” on his knuckles tattooed!” Mr Trump replied.
Mr Moran then claimed that the image had been “photoshopped”, to which Mr Trump said: “That was photoshopped? Terry, you can’t do that. They’ve given you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you’re doing the interview.”
He continued: “I picked you because, frankly, I had never heard of you, but that’s okay. But I picked you, Terry, but you’re not being very nice.”
The MS-13 gang is said to be one of the most brutal in the world and its members have been linked to mass murders and extreme violence in El Salvador and the US.
The US president later said that he “could” secure the return of Garcia after his administration admitted he had been mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
“Now the Supreme Court has upheld an order that you must return him to facilitate his return to the United States. What are you doing to comply?” Mr Moran asked Mr Trump in the Oval Office.
Mr Trump replied that the lawyer who claimed he had been deported by mistake “should not have said that” and said Garcia was “not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland”.
“I’m not saying he’s a good guy. It’s about the rule of law. The order from the Supreme Court stands, Sir,” Mr Moran told the president.
Critics say the case demonstrates how far the Trump administration is willing to push the boundaries of the law after the US president refused to bring back Garcia despite the Supreme Court ruling that he should do so.
The White House has refused to facilitate Garcia’s return, claiming that he is a dangerous gang member belonging to MS-13, a designated foreign terrorist organisation. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat senator for Maryland – where Garcia had been living – went to visit him in El Salvador.
Garcia’s lawyers insist he is not an MS-13 gang member and denied that he had ever been charged or convicted of a crime.
