President Trump responds to return of alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to US
President Donald Trump responded to the sudden return of Salvadoran illegal and alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying, "he’s a bad guy" and that the courts will "show how horrible this guy is."
Trump appeared unbothered by Abrego Garcia’s return on Friday afternoon, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that the Department of Justice made the decision and that soon the world will see how "horrible" a person he is.
Trump expressed confidence in the DOJ and its case against Abrego Garcia.
"The DOJ made a decision," he said, adding, "I think their decisions have been very, very good."
"Maybe they just said, ‘Look, all of these people, these judges, they want to try and run the country.’ A local judge trying to run the country," said Trump. "The man has a horrible past, and I could see a decision being made, bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is."
The president said, "Frankly, we have to do something because the judges are trying to take the place of a president that won in a landslide. That's not supposed to be the way it is. So, I can see bringing him back. I could see. He's a bad guy."
The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal alien who was living in Maryland, to a high-security prison in his home country back in March on the grounds that he is a member of the violent MS-13 gang.
Soon after his deportation, Democrats jumped to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release and return to the U.S., arguing that he was a wrongly deported "Maryland man."
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Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that Abrego Garcia, 29, has landed in the United States and is set to face federal charges for human smuggling and conspiracy.
"Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice," Bondi said. "A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment charging him with alien smuggling and conspiracy."
According to the indictment, Garcia played a "significant role" in a human smuggling ring operating for nearly a decade. Bondi described him as a full-time smuggler who made more than 100 trips, transporting women, children, and MS-13 gang-affiliated persons throughout the United States.
Fox News Digital obtained Tennessee Highway Patrol bodycam footage from a 2022 traffic stop where troopers pulled over Garcia for speeding. Inside his vehicle were eight other men, raising immediate suspicions. "He’s hauling these people for money," one trooper said.
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Troopers found $1,400 in cash and flagged Garcia in the National Crime Information Center, which returned a gang/terrorism alert. ICE was called but never responded.
Though Democrats have also pushed a narrative that Abrego Garcia is a "family man," court records show Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, filed a protective order against her husband in August 2020. The order said their shared son and stepchildren needed protection from Abrego Garcia, accusing him of verbal and physical abuse against her and mental abuse against her children.
Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who led the charge among Democrats to push for Abrego Garcia’s return, released a statement after news of the return broke, saying, "For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution. Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States."
Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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