'Hard time believing' that: CNN host dubious of 'noteworthy' Trump claim in new interview
April 25, 2025
President Donald Trump sat down for a lengthy interview with Time Magazine on the occasion of his 100th day in office, and the reporter who spoke with him revealed what he believes was one the most "noteworthy" comments.
The magazine's Eric Cortellessa asked the president whether he had asked El Salvador president Nayib Bukele to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal U.S. resident mistakenly deported out of the country, and Trump said no one had asked him to request that – although the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled unanimously that the administration should facilitate his return.
"I thought that was very noteworthy in the interview," Cortellessa said. "You know, I started you know, we started that sequence basically asking him about, you know, his commitment to complying with court orders. When I interviewed president Trump a year ago, in April of 2024, he said he would always comply with Supreme Court orders, and then I said, well, look, the Supreme Court just ruled 9-0 that you have to bring this guy back – why haven't you? – and his answer was that his lawyers read the ruling differently, that it did not order him to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia."
ALSO READ: 'Dictatorship, not a town hall': Families 'distraught' as MTG disruptors tased and jailed
"I then read, you know, from the ruling saying that the order required him to facilitate his release, and when I asked, you know, have you have you asked president of El Salvador whether you would bring him back?" Cortellessa added. "He said that he hadn't, that his lawyers didn't tell him he had to, and that nobody had even asked him that except for me. I did get the sense that president Trump was following the advice of lawyers on this, on his answers to this question."
Host John Berman was skeptical of the president's claims.
"Yeah, I have a hard time believing you're the first person to raise the possibility with him, even though I do agree," Berman said. "It's a great question on your part, but I have to believe other people have suggested it was at least a possibility."
Watch below or click the link here.
Leave a Comment
