Fireworks were flying in the Oval Office Monday afternoon as President Trump met with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, but it was nothing at all like the time Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, used a White House photo op to escalate tensions with the administration. Instead, Trump, Bukele and a host of Trump administration officials teamed up to destroy the false media narrative surrounding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran illegal who was deported from the United States and is now doing time at the infamous CECOT mega prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador.

Flanked by their respective national security teams, Trump and Bukele laid down some hard truths for CNN's Kaitlan Collins—or, as Trump called her, "a very low-rated anchor"—after she asked President Trump if he'd be seeking Bukele's help in returning the "mistakenly deported" Abrego Garcia to the U.S. The question kicked off a whip around of Trump administration officials lighting into the media for failing to properly cover the story of an illegal being returned to his home country and the associated judicial rulings. 

First up was Attorney General Pam Bondi, who alerted Kaitlan Collins to the fact that, "First and foremost, he was in our country illegally." Then came the legal truths: "In 2019, two courts, an immigration court and an appellate immigration court, ruled he was a member of MS-13, and he was illegally in our country." Bondi noted that is was now up to El Salvador, not the United States, to decide if they want to return him, stating that the U.S. would help "facilitate" that return by providing an airplane.

MORE: Watch: Trump Advisor Stephen Miller Lays a Beating on Media Narrative in Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case

Karoline Leavitt Levels Legacy Media Attempt to Villainize the Deportation of an MS-13 Leader

President Trump then threw the matter over to White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, who was fresh off a thrashing of Fox News' Bill Hemmer after Hemmer pursued a line of questioning similar to that of CNN's Collins. Miller got in a nice little dig at Collins over her apparent lack of knowledge regarding the Immigration and Nationality Act, which was enacted back in 1952.

Here's more from Stephen Miller:

MILLER: It is very arrogant for American media to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens. And two immigration courts found he was a member of MS-13. When President Trump declared MS-13 to be a terrorist organization, that meant that he [Abrego Garcia] was no longer eligible, under federal law, for any form of immigration relief in the United States. So, we had a deportation order that was valid.

Finally, it was President Bukele's turn to address the matter, telling Collins that her question was "preposterous" and that he no intention of smuggling a terrorist back in the United States.

.@nayibbukele: "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." pic.twitter.com/PyrXqO4bvJ

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 14, 2025

Monday's Oval Office showdown wasn't your typical diplomatic meeting—it was both a public dismantling of yet another false media narrative and a show of mutual respect between the United States and El Salvador when it comes to dealing with national security matters. Kilmar Abrego Garcia isn’t a victim here, no matter how much Kaitlan Collins wants to believe otherwise; he’s a violent gang member who got exactly what the law demanded. 

This is what facing the consequences looks like. 

Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.

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