Trump Touts Seemingly Doctored Photo of Abrego Garcia’s Hand in Attempt To Prove Maryland Man Is Gang Member

Donald Trump/Truth Social

President Donald Trump posted a photo of himself holding a seemingly digitally altered image of the left hand of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador last month.

Abrego Garcia is currently incarcerated in a prison in El Salvador despite a 2019 court order barring his removal to that country. Lawyers for the Trump administration initially admitted that the Maryland father of three was sent to El Salvador due to an “administrative error,” but the president and his top officials say they will not retrieve him and claim Abrego Garcia is member of the notorious MS-13 gang. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling instructing the administration to arrange his return to the U.S. Abrego Garcia has not been charged with a crime.

On Friday, Trump posted a message on his Truth Social platform with an image purporting to be Abrego Garcia’s left hand. It features tattoos on his fingers that government officials previously described: a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull. But in the image Trump is holding, “MS-13” is now spelled across the knuckles.

However, Matt Novak of Gizmodo pointed out on BlueSky that a photo of Abrego Garcia with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) from Thursday clearly shows the deportee’s left hand. The characters “MS-13” are nowhere to be found.

Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador hoping to secure Abrego Garcia’s release. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has refused and Trump has claimed the decision is up to Bukele. That’s the despite the fact that the U.S. government is paying El Salvador $6 million to imprison Abrego Garcia and more than 250 other men the U.S. deported to the country. A 60 Minutes probe found that at least 75% of those men do not have a criminal record.