President Donald Trump on Tuesday made the rounds in what amounted to his 100 days in office accomplishment tour – and he generated some news along the way.
Trump turned heads when he said that he does have the ability to bring back the Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador but that he will not do so.
“You could get him back. There’s a phone on this desk,” ABC News’ Terry Moran said to Trump during an interview that aired Tuesday.
Moran said that Trump could “call up the president of El Salvador and say, ‘Send him back.’”
“And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that,” Trump said. “But he is not.”
The statement undermines officials in his own administration who have said it is up to the Salvadoran government to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was deported because of an administrative error.
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Trump’s statement, which is sure to be brought up in court, comes after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. The judge in his case said last week that the Trump administration was not acting in “good faith.”
It’s the latest development in Trump’s ongoing war with the courts as he pushes boundaries to see what he can legally get away with in pursuit of his policies.
During the interview, Trump was also defensive of his tariff policies, which have roiled the financial markets. When asked if hard times are ahead, Trump said, “I don’t think so.”
“Everybody’s going to be just fine,” Trump said. “It wouldn’t have been if I didn’t do this. I had a choice. I could leave it, have a nice, easy time. But I think ultimately you would have had an implosion. Our country had inflation that was worse than they’ve ever had it before.”
But the interview was just one of Trump’s events this week. He also held a rally in Michigan Tuesday to mark the first 100 days of his second term. Rallies have always been a familiar and comfortable venue for Trump, and Wednesday proved no different.
He said he had “the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country.” Trump aired familiar grievances about former President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
“I miss the campaign,” Trump said.
Here are other statements Trump made during the rally:
Trump’s 100 days in office were marked by uncertainty over the economy as the president seeks to rewrite the rules of the global trading system with a sweeping array of tariffs on many countries and the products they export to the U.S. But he continued his defense of his tariffs, specifically mentioning his tariffs in China that top 145% and sparked a trade war.
“We’ve been abused by friend and foe. And in many cases, friend has abused us more so than foe on trade,” Trump said. “So I want to just let you know you’re going to be very proud of this country very soon. And with my China tariffs, we’re ending the greatest job theft in the history of the world.”
Trump continued to criticize Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who recently warned that Trump’s tariffs could lead to inflation that could be “more persistent” than just a one-time surge in prices.
“You’re not supposed to criticize the Fed,” Trump said at his rally. “You’re supposed to let him do his own thing. But I know much more than he does about interest rates.”
Trump criticized what he called “fake polls” after they delivered him a series of unfavorable ratings.
A recent Gallup survey found that Trump’s approval rating in the first quarter of his second term is 45% – well below all other post-World War II presidents elected in the U.S. but slightly above his earlier stint in the White House. Other recent polls have shown voters souring on Trump over his handling of the economy, immigration, government cuts, his decision to defy the courts and more.
“They say Trump only has a 44% approval rating,” Trump said. “Well, that’s actually not bad. But when you figure that if it were a legit poll, it would be in the 60s or 70s, is – these people are a bunch of crooked people.”
