A couple of weeks ago, Donald Trump rolled out a new defense for his administration’s handling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case — by promoting an image of Garcia’s hand.
The president, seemingly aware of the legal and political controversy he created by improperly sending Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran mega-prison, apparently hoped to turn the tide with purported evidence: a photograph featuring “MS13” tattooed onto Abrego Garcia’s knuckles, presumably proving his gang affiliation.
The problem, of course, was that the image was literally unbelievable: It appeared to be a crudely manipulated picture, which was further discredited by legitimate photographs of Abrego Garcia’s actual hands. The promoted image was real, but someone had apparently layered “MS13” over it. (The administration has never explained who was responsible for the apparent manipulation, and experts agreed that Abrego Garcia’s actual tattoos were not a reliable indicator of gang membership.)
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck pic.twitter.com/m0mA0MwlUp
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 19, 2025
Trump and the White House continued to push the apparently doctored image anyway, leading to awkward questions about whether the president had actually fallen for the apparent sham, or whether he and his team were simply trying to pull one over on the public.
It was against this backdrop that ABC News’ Terry Moran sat down with the president in the Oval Office, and when the discussion turned to the Abrego Garcia case, Trump once again pointed to the dubious picture. It fell to Moran to explain that the photo had been manipulated, at which point the Republican said the ABC anchor wasn’t being “nice” — and the president expected Moran to simply play along.
This exchange is so very telling.Trump repeatedly claims the photoshopped MS-13 on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real, Terry Moran keeps telling him it isn't, prompting Trump to say this:"I never heard of you. I picked you. You’re not being very nice. He had MS-13 tattooed… Just say yes!"
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) 2025-04-30T00:46:29.334Z
As part of the same interview, Moran proceeded to press Trump on following the Supreme Court’s order and facilitating Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States. The president balked.
“I’m not the one making this decision,” Trump said. “We have lawyers that don’t want to do this.”
Host: You could call and get Abrego Garcia back.Trump: I couldHost: But the Supreme Court has ordered you to facilitate his release.Trump: I'm not the one making this decisionHost: You're the president!
— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2025-04-30T00:48:00.742Z
To the extent that reality has any bearing on the debate, the president leads the executive branch of the United States government. The buck stops with him. He is most definitely the one who’s ultimately responsible for, in his words, “this decision.”
The White House might very well have “lawyers” who “don’t want to” work on bringing Abrego Garcia home from El Salvador, but in this administration, they serve at the pleasure of the president. Trump tells the lawyers what to do, not the other way around.
But to hear the president tell it, he’s simply a bystander in his own White House. There are important decisions being made, but he’s not the one making them.
This comes up with greater frequency than it should.








