El Salvador President Slammed After Claiming He 'Doesn't Have The Power' To Return Maryland Dad To U.S.

The fate of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains unknown even after a White House visit by El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

During a press gaggle and photo op in the Oval Office on Monday, Republican President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and Bukele played pass the buck on the man the United States Supreme Court ordered returned to the United States.

According to Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, the United States is powerless to retrieve anyone they deport by mistake.

Bondi stated:

"That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us."

"The Supreme Court rule... if El Salvador wants to return him, this is international matters, foreign affairs."

"If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane."

But Bukele claimed to be equally powerless, saying:

"How can I return him to the United States? It's like I smuggle him into the United States, or whatever it is? Of course, I'm not going to do it."

"It's like, I mean, the question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States."

You can see the moment here:

While Bondi and Bukele played "not it," Trump got upset that the press wanted a straight answer from someone in his administration or on his payroll.

The United States through the State Department is paying El Salvador $6 million to take hundreds of immigrants deported by the United States without proper identification, just cause, or due process.

People weren't buying what Bukele and Trump were selling.

@ryanmarino/Bluesky

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Others saw only warning signs in the Oval Office exchange.

The refusal to take responsibility for correcting mistakes or following court orders came on the heels of a hot mic picking up Trump telling Bukele he wants to send U.S. citizens to El Salvador next.

Bukele and Trump confirmed in their Oval Office presser that these will be one-way trips.