Trump says ‘I could’ get Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador
John McDonnell/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — In an exclusive interview with ABC News to mark his 100th day in office, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he “could” secure the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man his administration said in court was mistakenly deported to El Salvador.
“Now the Supreme Court has upheld an order that you must return him to the– facilitate his return to the United States. What are you doing to comply?” ABC News anchor and Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran asked Trump in the Oval Office.
“Well, the lawyer that said it was a mistake was here a long time, was not appointed by us– should not have said that, should not have said that,” Trump argued. The president then said that Abrego Garcia is a member of the criminal MS-13 gang and “is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland.” Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have maintained he’s not MS-13 and has not been charged with or convicted of a crime.
“I’m not saying he’s a good guy. It’s about the rule of law. The order from the Supreme Court stands, sir,” Moran told the president.
“He came into our country illegally,” Trump maintained.
“You could get him back. There’s a phone on this desk,” Moran told Trump, pointing to the phone on the Resolute Desk.
“I could,” Trump conceded.
“You could pick it up, and with all–” Moran began to say.
“I could,” Trump said again.
“–the power of the presidency, you could call up the president of El Salvador and say, ‘Send him back right now,’” Moran explained.
“And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that,” Trump offered, before saying, “I’m not the one making this decision.”
“You’re the president,” Moran told him.
“I– no, no, no, no. If– follow the law. You want me to follow the law. If I were the president that just wanted to do anything, I’d probably keep him right where he is—” Trump said.
“The Supreme Court says what the law is,” Moran said.
Trump replied, referencing immigration, saying he “was elected to take care of a problem” that was an “unforced error that was made by a very incompetent man,” – an apparent jab at President Joe Biden.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s administration is launching an investigation into Harvard University’s law journal over alleged discriminatory practices, expanding its weeks-long battle over federal funding with the elite institution.
The civil rights offices of the Education and Health and Human Services departments announced Monday they are investigating the Harvard Law Review, an independent, student-run organization that promotes legal scholarship.
The offices are investigating allegations that the journal discriminates based on race “in lieu of merit-based” standards, in violation of the Title VI anti-discrimination law, according to a release by the two agencies.
“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary within the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, said in a statement on Monday.
The agencies said the Harvard Law Review risks losing federal funding if found to have broken Title VI law.
The Harvard Law Review has been published and edited by students for over 135 years. It aims to be an effective research tool for practicing lawyers and students, according to its website.
“Harvard Law School is committed to ensuring that the programs and activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws and to investigating any credibly alleged violations,” a spokesperson for the university said in a statement to ABC News, noting that the journal “is a student-run organization that is legally independent from the law school.”
The latest investigation comes after the Trump administration froze over $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard after the university refused to comply with a series of demands following an antisemitism task force review earlier this month.
Harvard University President Alan Garber said in a letter at the time that “no government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
The university has filed a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s threats to withhold funding, asking a judge to block the funding freeze from going into effect, arguing the move is “unlawful and beyond the government’s authority.”
During a short conference on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs scheduled oral arguments in the lawsuit challenging the funding freeze on July 21. In the meantime, the funding freeze will remain in effect.
The Internal Revenue Service is also considering revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status, sources told ABC News earlier this month.
In other developments, the Department of Education said Monday its civil rights office found that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete on its women’s sports teams.
The department is demanding the university issue a statement to its community that it will comply with the law, apologize to athletes whose athletic participation was “marred by sex discrimination,” and restore all athletics records or accolades “misappropriated by male athletes.” The school has 10 days to resolve the violation or risk a referral to the Department of Justice.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration said it suspended $175 million in federal contracts awarded to Penn, citing the participation of a transgender athlete on a women’s swimming team.
A Penn spokesperson said at the time that the university has “always followed” NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller and a candidate for mayor, was arrested for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer while at an immigration court on Tuesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Lander, a Democrat, was escorting a defendant out of immigration court in Manhattan on Tuesday when he was “taken by masked agents and detained” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, his campaign spokesperson, Dora Pekec, said in a statement.
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that “it is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment.”
“No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences,” the spokesperson added.
Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, told reporters she was accompanying him to the courthouse on Tuesday to “stand witness to what was going on.” She said Lander and others had “linked arms” with a man and had repeatedly asked to see a judicial warrant containing evidence of the grounds for the man’s deportation when they were “swarmed” by masked agents.
“I am confident Brad’s going to be out soon and am very proud of him for standing up,” Barnette said during a press briefing. “It’s a really sobering and upsetting situation that I haven’t quite processed all the way yet.”
She said he is being held in the building and has retained an attorney.
Lander was elected comptroller in 2021. He is one of several candidates running in the Democratic mayoral primary slated for June 24.
His detainment has drawn swift condemnation from New York officials, including his fellow mayoral candidates.
Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblymember and Democratic mayoral candidate, called for Lander’s release.
“NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was just arrested by Trump’s ICE agents because he asked to see a judicial warrant,” Mamdani said in a statement on social media. “This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now.”
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also running for NYC mayor, said the incident is the “latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump’s ICE out of control.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James called Lander’s arrest “profoundly unacceptable.”
“Arresting Comptroller Lander for the simple act of standing up for immigrants and their civil rights is a shocking abuse of power,” she said in a statement. “No one should face fear and intimidation in a courthouse, and this is a grotesque escalation of tensions. The administration’s rampant targeting of New Yorkers only makes our communities less safe.”
(WASHINGTON) — Democrats, responding to the 100-day mark of President Donald Trump’s second term, argue that the American public’s opinion of the White House and Republicans in Congress — as well as consternation around high prices — give them an opening to flip the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.
In a strategy memo obtained exclusively by ABC News, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of House Democrats, wrote, “In just 100 days, House Republicans and Donald Trump have lost the support of the American people and left a trail of broken promises that will cost them the House majority next year.”
Recent polls show approval ratings for Trump and congressional Republicans are underwater — although congressional Democrats have sometimes performed even worse. In a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, Trump beats Democrats in Congress in terms of trust to handle the nation’s main problems.
The DCCC, however, argues in the memo that Democrats have momentum. The group pointed to ads from some Republican members during the 2024 campaign cycle where they said they would work to get costs down, claiming that they and others have abandoned those promises. The group also alleged that the recent budget blueprint passed by House Republicans will potentially lead to cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
Republicans have argued that the budget blueprint does not and will not threaten any benefits or entitlements and that Democrats are causing undue fear. Some also blame actions by the previous White House under Democratic President Joe Biden or factors outside of anyone’s control have caused higher prices.
“The DCCC and House Democrats will continue to fight back and hold Republicans accountable for their broken promises … With every new bill that gets introduced, committee meeting held, and amendment vote taken, the American people will know that Republicans don’t work for them, they work for the billionaires,” the Democratic group wrote.
And looking to 2026, the DCCC added, “Their trail of broken promises have helped to put House Democrats on offense with an expansive battleground map, including more initial Districts in Play than any cycle since 2018. The DCCC will continue to build upon this momentum on our way to taking back the House next year.”
Republicans held on to a slim majority in the House in the 2024 election.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the campaign arm of House Republicans, has expressed confidence that the GOP will hold the House in the 2026 midterms. The group celebrated Trump’s 100 day mark on Tuesday as a milestone for momentum for an agenda the group said is revitalizing the country.
NRCC chair Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., wrote in a statement on Tuesday, “In just 100 days, President Trump has reignited American greatness. He’s secured our border, put America back on top, and restored the American Dream. House Republicans will continue working with him and building on this historic momentum.”
The DCCC’s memo comes as Democratic officials and other figures mark 100 days of Trump’s second term in office, although the party is still divided over how to rebuild after its losses in 2024.
To mark the 100-day milestone, Democratic mayors and governors have been pointing to federal government spending cuts or new policies that they say have a deleterious impact on their states.
A few well-known governors, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker — who created buzz during remarks on Sunday in New Hampshire when he said that “these Republicans cannot know a moment of peace” — will be holding a virtual town hall on Tuesday night about “how Democratic governors are standing up to protect the people in their states,” according to the Democratic Governors Association.
Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress and party officials have been marking the run-up to the 100-day mark with town halls and protests. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., staged an hours-long “sit-in” on the House steps on Sunday to protest Congressional Republicans’ budget plans.
Some Democrats have argued that the disparate responses to the administration are actually a strength for the party while it is locked out of power in Washington.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, said at a talk on Monday night that the Democratic Party needs to “flood the zone” and “fill every single lane, and if there’s one that’s better than another, then let’s all pick that lane and do more of that.”
Harris herself is set to deliver remarks on Wednesday in San Francisco, one day after the administration’s 100-day mark, at the 20th anniversary celebration for Emerge, an organization that supports Democratic women running for office.
