President Donald Trump sparked criticism after claiming during an interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran that an edited photo depicting tattoos of wrongly-deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia showed that he has an alleged connection to the MS-13 gang.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who arrived in the U.S. in 2012, was labeled a threat in 2019 due to an alleged connection to MS-13. He spent months in detention before an immigration judge found he had a credible fear of persecution—not from MS-13, but from a rival group, Barrio 18, which he said had been extorting his family.
Following that ruling, Abrego Garcia was released and reunited with his wife and son, both U.S. citizens. However, without warning, immigration authorities detained and deported him in March. He has consistently denied any affiliation with MS-13.
The Justice Department has since acknowledged that his removal violated a 2019 court order, calling it an error. Nonetheless, officials maintain they still consider him a threat based on the original allegations and have ignored a Supreme Court order to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.
Earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Abrego Garcia would be deported again in the event he is returned. She said "nothing will change the fact that Abrego Garcia will never be a Maryland father, he will never live in the United States of America again."
You can watch Trump's interaction with Moran in the video below.
Trump claimed that Abrego Garcia had “MS-13” tattooed on his knuckles, referencing a photo he shared from the Oval Office and stating, “It says ‘MS-13.’” ABC’s Terry Moran pushed back, saying, “That was Photoshop,” noting that the letters “M,” “S,” “1,” and “3” had been digitally added above unrelated tattoos—a marijuana leaf, smiley face, cross, and skull.
Moran clarified, “He did not have the letter, ‘M,’ ‘S,’ ‘1,’ ‘3,’” and added that while some tattoos were “interpreted that way,” Garcia’s family and attorneys deny any gang affiliation. Trump maintained, however, that the image was as “clear as you can be.”
He was incredulous, telling Moran:
“That was Photoshop? Terry, you can’t do that."
Trump was called out for spreading disinformation.
Concerns have emerged that the Trump administration intended the alphanumeric symbols to serve as a kind of legend for Abrego Garcia’s tattoos, while others have suggested that officials may have deliberately tried to mislead the public into believing the symbols were actually tattooed on his knuckles.
When asked for comment, a White House spokesperson claimed that any law enforcement or immigration official with field experience could identify Abrego Garcia’s tattoos as linked to MS-13.
However, the specific letters and numbers—“M,” “S,” “1,” and “3”—seen in the image Trump shared do not appear in other recent photos of Garcia’s hand, including one taken by Salvadoran officials during his April 17 meeting with Senator Chris Van Hollen, which was later posted by President Nayib Bukele.
A family photo shared by immigration advocates also shows no such markings. According to MS-13 experts consulted by PolitiFact, none of the tattoos visible in the image are recognized indicators of gang affiliation.
Trump acknowledged to Moran that he has the power to bring back Abrego Garcia but stated he would not. When Moran noted that Trump could change the situation with a simple phone call, Trump replied, “I could,” then added, “And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that.”
