Trump and Bukele United in Defiance of the Supreme Court

During an Oval Office meeting between President Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, it became clear that the U.S. government has no intention of complying with the Supreme Court’s order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The decision has sparked significant controversy both in the U.S. and internationally.

Deported by Mistake

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was originally deported to El Salvador despite having legal protection against removal in the U.S., and his case has become the center of an intense legal battle.

The Supreme Court has ordered the U.S. government to “facilitate” his return, but the administration has consistently refused to comply. The Trump administration argues that only the president holds authority over foreign policy and cannot be compelled to act on a Supreme Court ruling in matters of international relations.

An Absurd Request

President Bukele, seated next to Trump in the Oval Office, rejected all attempts to involve him in returning Garcia.

Bukele called the idea of returning Garcia “absurd” and compared it to smuggling a terrorist into the U.S. Instead of addressing the case, he used the opportunity to praise Trump’s handling of immigration and border policy, while criticizing politicians who support allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.

Trump, clearly supportive of Bukele, spoke favorably of the Salvadoran leader and expressed willingness to cooperate on the matter. “I’m all for it,” Trump said, adding that his attorney general was exploring whether it would be legally possible to send American citizens convicted of violent crimes to serve time in El Salvador’s prisons.

A Strong Alliance with Trump

This development marks one of the clearest examples of a foreign leader aligning closely with Trump, as Bukele positions himself as a MAGA-like figure in Latin America.

He also rejected the idea of sending Garcia back to the U.S., insisting that he would not return a man who had committed no crime.

Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisors, emphasized that it was up to Bukele to decide whether Garcia should be released.

He noted that although Garcia had been deported due to a removal order, he had been granted protection from deportation by an immigration court.

This meeting sends a clear signal that the Trump administration does not intend to comply with Supreme Court rulings—and that El Salvador’s President Bukele is more than willing to support Trump’s defiance of the United States’ own judicial system.