El Salvador President Slams CNN's Kaitlan Collins for 'Preposterous' Question, Says He's Not Returning Deported MS-13 Suspect (2025)

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said at the Oval Office Wednesday that he will not return Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S.

When questioned by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins concerning the matter, Bukele responded, “I suppose you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States. Right? How can I return him to the United States? … I’m not going to do it.”

“The question is preposterous,” he added. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

Last month, the Trump administration deported alleged MS-13 gang member Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, where he is now being held in a prison.

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court held that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ order directing the Trump administration to “facilitate and effectuate the return” of Abrego Garica to the U.S. may exceed her authority.

The Court zeroed in on the term “effectuate,” saying, “The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

The justices also instructed the Trump administration to be prepared to share what steps it has taken to facilitate Abrego Garica’s return.

Collins asked President Donald Trump, “Do you plan to ask President Bukele to help return the man who your administration says was mistakenly deported to El Salvador?”

.@kaitlancollins: “Do you plan to ask President Bukele to help return the man who…was mistakenly deported to El Salvador?”

President Bukele: “The question is preposterous.”

Responses are given from @AGPamBondi, @StephenM President Bukele, @SecRubio and President Trump. pic.twitter.com/NGXE5I3gd4

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 14, 2025

Trump directed the question to Attorney General Pam Bondi, who responded, “First and foremost, [Abrego Garcia] was illegally in our country. He had been illegally in our country. And in 2019, two courts, an immigration court and an appellate immigration court, ruled that he was a member of MS-13, and he was illegally in our country.”

“That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him,” she added. “If they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also chimed in, saying, “He’s a citizen of El Salvador, so it’s very arrogant, even, for the American media, to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens.”

Miller further argued that Judge Xinis (an appointee of Barack Obama) was essentially ordering the U.S. government to “kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here.”

“No version of this legally ends up with him ever living here because he is a citizen of El Salvador. That is the president of El Salvador. Your questions on it, per the [Supreme Court], can only be directed to him,” Miller told Collins.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also weighed in on the issue, saying, “I don’t understand what the confusion is. This individual is a citizen of El Salvador. He was illegally in the United States, and was returned to his country.”

“The foreign policy of the United States is conducted by the president of the United States, not by a court,” Rubio continued. “And no court in the United States has a right to conduct the foreign policy of the United States.”

Collins tried to take one more pass at the issue, directing her question to Trump, arguing the Supreme Court ruling means Abrego Garcia must be returned.

Trump said to her, “How long do we have to answer this question? Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country?'”

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