President Donald Trump says he won’t facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was wrongly deported from the U.S.

In an interview with ABC News that aired Tuesday, the president said he “could” bring Abrego Garcia back, after his administration initially insisted it didn’t have the authority to have him returned to the U.S. from El Salvador, but won’t.

ABC’s Terry Moran pushed Trump, saying, “You could get him back. There’s a phone on this desk.”

“I could,” Trump replied in the interview. “And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that.”

The president’s comments are the latest in the ongoing saga over Abrego Garcia, whose case has grabbed national attention amid Trump’s efforts to ramp up immigration enforcement. Confusion continues to swirl around the steps the Trump administration has taken to comply with court orders to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S.

Initially, the federal government admitted in court that Abrego Garcia had been mistakenly deported due to an administrative error. Despite several rulings ordering the administration to facilitate his return, including one from the Supreme Court, Trump officials repeatedly said they didn’t have the authority to return Abrego Garcia, who was now in the custody of El Salvador.

Hours after the ABC interview, The New York Times reported Wednesday that the Trump administration had sent a diplomatic note to officials in El Salvador asking about the release of Abrego Garcia. El Salvador reportedly said no to the request, claiming Abrego Garcia should stay in the country since he’s a Salvadoran citizen.

Abrego Garcia, 29, had lived in Maryland for more than a decade and was shielded from removal in 2019 after an immigration judge determined that he would likely face persecution by local gangs if deported to his home country. In March, he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Prince George’s County and deported to a prison in El Salvador.

In the interview, Trump described Abrego Garcia as an “MS-13 gang member,” who had “beat the hell out of his wife.” Trump said Abrego Garcia had MS-13 tattooed on his knuckles, but there is no evidence that Abrego Garcia’s tattoos are related to gang membership.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, filed a protective order against him in 2021. After the document’s release, Sura said in media interviews that she acted out of caution in filing the order and that the couple worked things out privately.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing Abrego Garcia’s case in Maryland, has ordered the Trump administration to answer questions about its efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States.

In an order Wednesday afternoon, she directed the Trump administration to respond to all outstanding discovery requests, included updated questions from Abrego Garcia’s attorneys, by Monday.

Xinis also ordered that depositions of four Trump administration officials, including Robert Cerna, the acting ICE field office director who declared to the court in a March 31 filing that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was an error, must be completed by May 9.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney’s will then have until May 12 to update their request to the court for relief, and the Trump administration will have until May 14 to respond.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador earlier this month to discuss Abrego Garcia’s release, said Tuesday that Trump can facilitate the return.

According to Van Hollen, Salvadoran Vice President Félix Ulloa Jr. said the country is detaining Abrego Garcia because the Trump administration was paying them to do so. Ulloa said it’s up to the U.S. to release Abrego Garcia, according to Van Hollen.

During the ABC interview, Trump also discussed the impact of tariffs on the economy, peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, and billionaire Elon Musk’s work with the administration.

Banner reporter Danny Zawodny contributed to this report.