ABC News anchor presses Homan on whether Trump could get Bukele to cooperate in Abrego Garcia case

ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl pressed Trump border czar Tom Homan on whether he thinks President Trump could get El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, to release Kilmar Abrego Garcia from custody.

In an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Homan recognized that the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from Salvadoran custody and return to the U.S. — after the administration previously acknowledged he had been mistakenly deported.

Homan added, however, that Abrego Garcia is “a national of the country, so El Salvador would certainly have to cooperate in that.”

Karl zeroed in on that claim, pushing Homan to acknowledge that Trump could compel Bukele's cooperation if he wanted to.

“But you said that El Salvador would have to cooperate. You have no doubt that if President Trump wanted him returned, that he could ask President Bukele to return him, right?” Karl asked. “I mean, President Trump could make this happen.”

Speaking over the ABC anchor, Homan responded, “I am not involved in the discussion. I can't comment on something I don't know. “

“I can’t comment on a discussion I’m not involved in,” Homan added.

The anchor tried again: “But what do you think? I mean, you know President Trump, you've talked about how, you know, he can get things done. I mean, if he wanted the guy returned, he could get them returned, right? “

“I do, I'm not going to comment on conversations I'm not a part of. I don't know what conversations are having … who's having what conversation, what officials. I'm not in the loop on that,” Homan maintained.

The Trump administration has echoed Homan’s argument, saying now that Abrego Garcia is in Salvadoran custody, they cannot compel El Salvador to take any specific action. The Trump administration has struck a deal with El Salvador’s government to pay millions each year for the foreign nation to house deported individuals, including alleged gang members, in its notorious prison system.