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President Donald Trump lashed out at Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland on Friday morning, accusing the Democratic lawmaker of seeking media attention during his visit to El Salvador, where he met with Kilmar Ábrego García, a man wrongly deported from the US to El Salvador.
In a post on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, Trump wrote, “Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!”
Trump’s comments come as the US administration has said that it has no obligation or authority to intervene in Ábrego García’s imprisonment in El Salvador or facilitate his return to the US.
Senator Van Hollen confirmed on Thursday that he met with Abrego Garcia. “I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” Van Hollen said in a post on X, alongside a photo of the two sitting together at a table. “I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”
Meanwhile, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed Thursday night that Abrego Garcia will remain in custody. “Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honour of staying in El Salvador’s custody,” Bukele wrote in a post on X.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” Bukele’s post read.
Back in Maryland, Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, expressed relief following the confirmation of his well-being. “My children and my prayers have been answered. The efforts of my family and community in fighting for justice are (being) heard, because I now know that my husband is alive. God is listening, and the community is standing strong,” she said in a statement, according to CNN.
Ábrego García, who was mistakenly deported amid a disputed court case, remains jailed in El Salvador, drawing criticism from Democrats who have said the wrongful deportation exemplifies Trump’s “disregard for due process”.
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