When a reporter pointed out that the White House “conceded” they made a mistake, Leavitt exploded, claiming the man was a human trafficker and terrorist
“First of all, the error you are referred to is a clerical error, it was an administrative error,” she said (Image: AP)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on the Trump administration’s decision to deport a Salvadoran man with protected legal status to a mega-prison in El Salvador. It comes after Trump is ‘aging in reverse’ as he flaunts drastic weight loss but alarming theories emerge.
When a reporter pointed out that the White House “conceded” they made a mistake, Leavitt exploded, claiming the man was a human trafficker and terrorist.
“First of all, the error you are referred to is a clerical error, it was an administrative error,” she said. “The administration maintains the position that this person who will not return to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang.” Meanwhile, it emerged Trump is cutting down a historic White House tree and there are fears it’s for a sinister reason.
It comes just hours after the Trump administration admitted in court filings on Monday that it mistakenly deported a Maryland father with protected legal status to an El Salvadorian prison due to an “administrative error,” according to new reporting from The Atlantic.
This appears to be the first case of the administration openly admitting they have deported someone by mistake. On March 15 the administration sent three planeloads of Salvadoran and Venezuelan deportees to El Salvador’s notorious “Terrorism Confinement Center,” claiming, without evidence, they were all gang members of Tren de Aragua.
Leavitt said The Atlantic Magazine misportrayed the man in question- who the White House claims was a violent criminal who would never return to the US.
“I would like to point out that if you just saw the headline from the insane failing “Atlantic” magazine this morning, you would think this individual was father of the year living a peaceful life,” she said.
A reporter also pointed out that a federal judge on the night of the deportations ordered the planes to be turned around but the administration defied that order claiming the plans were already in international waters when the judge handed down the order.
But Leavitt said the administration had every right to defy the judge, responding: “Who does that judge work for? It was an immigration judge who works for the DOJ at the direction of Pam Bondi.”