What Trump Wants From the Nayib Bukele Presser

/78 Comments/in /by

Stewart Rhodes remains an adjudged terrorist (having gotten a terrorism enhancement at sentencing, in a sentence that Trump commuted but did not pardon). Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not.

I start there because one of the biggest takeaways from the press conference Trump staged with Nayib Bukele today is that the claims that Abrego Garcia — and not the guy whom Trump freed on his first day on the job — is a terrorist went uncontested.

The entire press conference was staged, like a badly written play, and staged to set up tomorrow’s status hearing in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, and with it try to chip away at due process for undocumented people. Yes, in the longer run, Trump wants to set up the legal path to use CECOT as a concentration camp, including for Americans. But in the shorter term, I think Trump is trying to reverse two adverse SCOTUS decisions, the one ruling that everyone gets access to at least a habeas petition before being deported, and the other that would uphold the ruling that Abrego Garcia could be deported, but not to El Salvador.

As far as we know, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a unique fact set among the people deported in the March 15 flights, and my guess is that after John Sauer came in, he decided to reset how DOJ deals with Abrego Garcia because he 1) had a negative ruling in 2019 and 2) is an undocumented Salvadoran citizen.

And so the presser today was designed to present an entirely new argument in the Abrego Garcia case, one that negates the repeated admissions of error (including even from Sauer) already in the court record.

After Kaitlan Collins started asking questions, all the people who should be submitting sworn declarations before Judge Paula Xinis made comments not burdened by oaths or the risk of contempt, rehearsed comments for the cameras.

Pam Bondi misrepresented the two 2019 rulings as findings that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist (as distinct from a ruling that he was not safe to release), and said that she was helpless to get Abrego Garcia back.

Stephen Miller laid out the new game plan at length (one he previewed on Fox beforehand): a claim that the SCOTUS order says the opposite of what it does, a claim that SCOTUS said that so long as this all gets packaged as foreign policy, Trump can deprive Abrego Garcia of his rights. A lie that the plan always to send Abrego Garcia to CECOT for precisely the purpose they’re putting forth today.

Marco Rubio had his speaking part, in which he affirmed the claim that this was all about foreign policy.

And then Bukele claimed he is helpless to return Abrego Garcia because — accepting the unsubstantiated claim that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist — he couldn’t bring someone like that back into the US (never mind that countries, including El Salvador, extradite actual terrorists to the US all the time).

So Bondi claimed to be helpless to ask Buekele to return Abrego Garcia. Bukele claimed to be helpless to return him. Depending on how SCOTUS treats the clear contempt for their ruling, it could have the desired effect, to get John Roberts to claim impotence.

There was no discussion of the US payments to Bukele, or past claims that Bukele is only temporarily holding the US deportees. (Though without the claim that this is temporary, the deportations to be held indefinitely in a third country become far more problematic.) Andrew Weissmann noted that Trump’s hot mic comment that Bukele should build five more camps suggests this is all being done at the US’ behest.

And, of course, there was no discussion that Trump freed a number of adjudged terrorists on his first day in office, his terrorists, terrorists now running free.

The Trump Administration is, in my opinion, trying to move the bar on deportation to a concentration camp. Contrary to Trump’s staged comment (for Bukele’s videographers) that Bukele needs to build five more concentration camps, I don’t think this theater was designed to get all the way to deporting American citizens now, not without more sanction from SCOTUS. I have no doubt he does want to get there, but thus far Trump has given what he does the patina of legal sanction, and he seems to believe he’ll get it here.

But I do think the theater scene was designed to get a second bid on this case from SCOTUS. And until people start focusing on Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that these men — Abrego Garcia and the others — are terrorists, until that claim is defeated politically, then Trump will continue to make legal progress.

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78 replies
  1. Gacyclist says:

    If we had a functioning doj this would be sorted. Trump said he’s up for shipping violent Americans to El Salvador. Does that extend to violent magas convicted of assaulting capitol police? Or maybe just his political opponents.

    Reply
  3. dopefish says:

    I’m just waiting for this Trump regime to start snatching its political opponents off the street and shipping them off to CECOT without due process. Anyone critical of Trump is obviously a terrorist member of Tren de Aragua if the regime vehemently says so in a media hit (which seems to be the only legal standard they hew to).

    Reply
    • Gacyclist says:

      It’s going to transpire that all the lawyers that did their jobs and other people who displeased trump will turn out to be sleeper tda or ms13 agents.

      Reply
  6. Frank Anon says:

    The question I never get an answer is, what crime did Abrego Garcia commit in El Salvador that prompts his incarceration without trial there? If Bukele won’t release him, under what law does he hold him? And barring a Salvadorian “crime”, how can the White House claim he cannot be repatriated because Bukele won’t allow it? I know the Kafka is the feature here, but I don’t see even the MAGA benefit of letting this go on much longer

    Reply
    • dopefish says:

      As far as we know, Kilmar Abrego Garcia hasn’t been charged with any crimes anywhere.

      He fled El Salvador to the U.S. in 2011 at the age of 16, entering the U.S. illegally. His lawyers say he was fleeing from the Barrio 18 gang which had been threatening his family. In 2019, police arrested him in a Home Depot parking lot where he was seeking work as a day laborer. The police handed him over to ICE who initiated deportation proceedings against him. In those proceedings ICE claimed he was a member of MS-13 because “he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie” and supposedly a confidential informant claimed that he was active with an MS-13 group in New York, where Abrego Garcia has never lived. ICE relied on information from a gang affliation form filled out by a local police officer who was suspended shortly afterward for job-related misconduct. An immigration judge used the informant claim to deny Abrego Garcia bail, but the matter of whether he is actually affiliated with MS-13 has never been adjudicated in court and Abrego Garcia has consistently denied any connection to MS-13.

      Despite that, and despite the 2019 “witholding of removal” order that gave him legal status to be in the U.S. and forbade deporting him to El Salvador, the Trump regime arrested him on March 12, 2025 and shipped him off to CECOT without any due process. Since then, the regime has been stonewalling the courts and advertising their contempt for them. Despite the recent 9-0 Supreme Court ruling, they have made no attempt to undo the wholly illegal rendition of Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

      To paraphrase JVL from The Bulwark, “This is Stasi shit”. The United States, formerly a democracy and rule-of-law country, now looks like an authoritarian hellhole to those of us who live in civilized countries.

      Reply
  7. Peaceloveetc says:

    Decades ago I volunteered for federal habeas death penalty cases. Very difficult and often frustrating work that left me frequently astounded at the shamelessness of lawyers for the state defending gross violations of due process. And I wondered how they slept at night. They look like Clarence Darrow compared to the current crew.
    At least they motivate action, e.g., protests, letters to congress, money to the lawyers fighting these horrors, personal advocacy to persuadable acquaintances and, I hate to say it, family. Thank you for your outstanding work.

    Reply
  8. wa_rickf says:

    “…Pam Bondi misrepresented the two 2019 rulings…”

    Republican USAG Pam Bondi mispresented two 2019 findings? Republican USAG Bill Barr misrepresented the findings of the Mueller Report.

    Coincidence? I think not!

    Reply
  9. Savage Librarian says:

    When you watch the presser clip, notice everyone’s hands. And at the beginning, notice where Bukele is directing his eyes. Is it just me, or did anyone else notice someone sending a signal?

    Reply
    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      No fair, SL! You just made it so I have to watch it again–something I had vowed not to do! But you’ve succeeded it making me so curious I will have to break that vow.

      Reply
  11. xyxyxyxy says:

    Everywhere on media you hear that this is a constitutional crisis.
    As far as I’m concerned, this is a criminal crisis, with everyone on the take. Has nothing to do with the constitution.

    Reply
  12. harpie says:

    https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social/post/3lmsntyhr722o
    April 14, 2025 at 6:55 PM

    Since the Trump admin continues to claim Mr. Abrego Garcia is a gang member, I thought I’d take the time to put together a timeline, based on all the documents filed in court, which lays out all the “evidence” the government has ever offered.

    As you’ll find out, there’s very little “there” there!
    [screenshots with alttext][THREAD includes explanations and one correction]

    Reply
      • harpie says:

        […] So the uncross-examined detective’s accusation [of MS-13 gang membership] came from an unidentified informant who was also, perforce, uncross-examined—a second layer of hearsay. […]

        Reply
      • Ginevra diBenci says:

        A great reminder, harpie. I remember these details from when Garcia’s case first exploded on the scene. The MS13 claim always seemed “thin” at best.

        But Stephen Miller is counting on his audience never doing homework like this. And unfortunately he’s right.

        Reply
    • harpie says:

      More NEWs:

      https://bsky.app/profile/annabower.bsky.social/post/3lmutzrnqek2u
      April 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM

      NEW: In a new status report, the government does not provide any new info on Abrego Garcia — but says that if he presents at a port of entry in the U.S., DHS would “remove him to a third country or terminate his withholding of removal because of his membership in MS-13” and remove him to El Salvador [screenshots]

      Signed by acting GC of DHS Mazarra.
      Includes a link to transcript of BUKELE / TRUMP meeting.

      Reply
  13. Foraker says:

    Mr. Garcia’s attorneys need to go after Trump & Co. for defamation (in addition to other causes of action that may be available). Ask the lawyers who represented Dominion against Fox and Newsmax to help out.

    Reply
  14. Eichhörnchen says:

    With all the “deference” paid to Trump’s foreign policy supremacy, everyone conveniently overlooks the fact that he violated judiciary supremacy by acting as judge and jury, as well as executioner.

    Reply
    • Attygmgm says:

      Foreign policy? Yes, a foreign country is involved, but only because they could get Mr. Garcia on a plane while gaming the courts. Do the courts owe deference to sham foreign affairs?

      Reply
  15. Donna1052 says:

    Saw an article recently on facebook claiming to be from a VZ journalist with comments that real VZ gang members do not readily identify via tattoos. Can you or someone verify this? Based on trumps general stupidity, this almost sound reasonable.
    Link below
    https:// www. facebook. com/photo/?fbid=10161573819809895 &set=a.154241599894&__cft__[0]=AZUCkU6MhjF_OOepv0pwrBShOVoaOZi_OvtvqW4PPvzcTHduM7ONfsMZ2v5WYue23-H4DE9EVXdHqk46hP5m2ccF9SAIm0WHmVBb44E8pKDMODgZJZ9T-slKWc_MJT4eJnwyxyolAVmnvoQs18sIFDsjktbfrj0pZQSjQQZoKHcfuA&__tn__=EH-R

    [Moderator’s note: I’ve inserted blank spaces into the shared URL to prevent readers’ accidental clickthrough. I don’t use Facebook, am not certain how much of the link is tracking but there is definitely some in that URL. At a minimum it requires readers to be logged into Facebook to read it. Please share a link with less tracking if at all possible. Welcome to emptywheel. /~Rayne]

    Reply
    • P J Evans says:

      I think gang tats are mostly US thing – though they’re certainly used elsewhere, but not so obviously identifiable.

      Reply
  16. Booksellerb4 says:

    Seriously, this shit is blowing my mind!!
    The Guardian had a very good piece – with its Catch-22 headline and this lede – It is difficult to find a term more fitting for the fate of the Maryland father Kilmar Abrego García than Kafkaesque. . . sorry no link, yet, will attempt soon.

    For me, this is about the whole process they’ve begun, waaay worse than the kids in cages, really.
    I don’t have much else to add right now.

    Song rec: El Salvador, Peter Paul & Mary

    Reply
  17. xyxyxyxy says:

    On possibly delaying auto parts tariffs, rubber band Donnie, “Look, I’m a very flexible person. I don’t change my mind, but I’m flexible.”

    Reply
  18. rattlemullet says:

    So these two men on live TV condemned a man who has committed no crimes to life in an El Salvador prison. They both know this fact yet they have no qualms about flippantly waving theirs and saying off with his head. Taking him away from his American wife and autistic child. This the epitome of the actions of dictators. Cruelty is the point to instill fear.

    Let Digby show the charges against a real terrorist. Just a quick review of the Declaration of Independence. The signatory’s of this document pledged their live and their property for the cause of not having a king.

    https://digbysblog.net/2025/04/14/how-many-of-these-charges-apply-to-trump/

    I guess the American public is not quite at that point of revolution yet. may be soon though.

    Just a friendly reminder that the Vietnam War policy of America was not changed by the courts or writing your congressional representative. Only by massive civil protest in the streets and the civil institutions did the war policy change. Yes the government use extreme violence against those who were brave enough to protest.

    Reply
  19. bawiggans says:

    If SCOTUS ultimately finds that there being no corpus within US borders to habeas places any matter concerning such corpus outside its jurisdiction, or even that the corpus has no standing in any case since it cannot to be proven to currently exist, then there is no legal risk and every incentive for a government bent on terrorizing the governed to snatch and dump whoever it pleases out of a military transport over the Gulf of America before their corpus has managed to file a habeas petition in a venue SCOTUS deems acceptable. Speed trumps due process.

    Reply
    • Sandor Raven says:

      Thank You. Here is a little more:

      habeas corpus(n.)
      From habere “to have, to hold” + corpus “person,” literally “body”
      Latin, literally “(you should) have the person.”

      In the Law: Writs in 14c. Anglo-French documents.

      In phrase: habeas corpus ad subjiciendum; “produce or have the person to be subjected to (examination)”.

      In practice: requires a person to be brought before a court or judge, especially to determine if that person is being legally detained.

      Reply
  20. Maryelle says:

    Posted by Jenny Cohn on Bluesky regarding Erik Prince’s involvement:

    “ Erik Prince visited Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in August 2024 & gushed that he was “very impressed” with Bukele’s prison system. Bukele posted this clip from their meeting.
    https://bsky.app/profile/jennycohn.bsky.social/post/3lmtf7ys35c2c

    “ “Erik Prince wants to cut a deal to transport detainees from the US to El Salvador *** The proposal would “target ‘criminal illegal aliens’” and “attempt to avoid legal challenges by designating part of the prison…as American territory.”

    “Erik Prince & a team of defense contractors are pitching the White House” on the plan. “It’s unclear how seriously the White House is considering the plan,” but the group has had “multiple talks with administration officials…”

    “ “The administration official also said they expect the proposal to be discussed during El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s visit to the White House on Monday, when he is planning to meet with President Donald Trump to hash out a variety of immigration issues.”

    “The proposal would ultimately put Prince in charge of an extraordinary privatization effort that would use his company to handle logistics, including ferrying tens of thousands of detainees from American holding cells to El Salvador’s prison.”
    https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/military-contractors-prison-plan-detained-immigrants-erik-prince-00287208

    “ ‘Maga since forever’: mercenary mogul Erik Prince pushes to privatize Trump deportation plans”
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/erik-prince-trump-immigration-enforcement

    Reply
    • Ginevra diBenci says:

      Thank you for this. If it’s nasty and profitable, of course Erik Prince is ON IT. I just wonder where Boris Epshteyn figures into all this hell.

      Reply
  21. Sandor Raven says:

    Given planes (instead of trains); extrajudicial deportations of “homegrown” “others” to “secure” facilities in out-of-the-way places … In asking this question I don’t mean to minimize the horrors of the past, but perhaps instaed to foreshadow (what I fear might be) the future, that is: “When is it too early to start referring to El Salvador’s CECOT as “Bukele’s Buchenwald”?

    Reply
  22. harpie says:

    Anna Bower and Roger Parloff will be Live-Posting from Judge Xinis’ 4:00 PM Hearing today.

    https://bsky.app/profile/annabower.bsky.social/post/3lmujqcjzy223
    April 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM

    COMING UP: At 4 p.m. ET, Judge Xinis is set to hold a hearing on the government’s efforts — or lack thereof — to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

    I’ll be there along w/ my colleague @rparloff.bsky.social.

    After the hearing, we’ll discuss live: [link]

    Reply
  23. harpie says:

    https://bsky.app/profile/bcfinucane.bsky.social/post/3lmtweirfpc2z
    April 15, 2025 at 7:00 AM

    [scroll up for THREAD beginning on 4/12/25 with

    If there is an international agreement with El Salvador for these renditions, the Trump administration is legally required under the Case-Zablocki Act to share it with Congress.
    To my knowledge, they have not done so.]

    Senator Shaheen invoking the Case-Zablocki Act to request whatever binding or non-binding instruments exist with El Salvador for these renditions. [LINK]

    Links to:

    Ranking Member Shaheen Urges Secretary Rubio to Facilitate the Release of Unlawfully Detained U.S. Resident in El Salvador and Seeks Transparency on Deportation Deals // April 14, 2025

    Reply
  24. harpie says:

    https://bsky.app/profile/annabower.bsky.social/post/3lmuud264cc2o
    April 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM

    HAPPENING NOW: At the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, Judge Paula Xinis is set to begin a hearing on the government’s efforts – or lack thereof – to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was wrongly removed to El Salvador.

    Follow along for updates [THREAD]

    April 15, 2025 at 4:04 PM

    The hearing is underway.
    Drew Ensign is here for the Justice Department.
    For Abrego Garcia, it’s Rina Gandhi

    Reply
    • harpie says:

      April 15, 2025 at 4:07 PM

      Judge Xinis notes that the plaintiff has asked for additional relief — discovery, request his return, etc.

      Plaintiff’s counsel says SCOTUS ruled that the gov must facilitate his release from custody in El Salvador. But there’s no evidence of anything govt has done to facilitate his return.

      The gov routinely requests return of people wrongly removed, but no evidence that they’ve done that, plaintiff’s counsel says.

      Plaintiff wants deposition of someone on behalf of the government…

      harpie: There is some other new info here:
      https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/04/14/what-trump-wants-from-the-nayib-bukele-presser/#comment-1094403

      Reply
    • harpie says:

      April 15, 2025 at 4:17 PM

      [Sorry, connection interruption.]

      Judge Xinis is talking to Ensign now, asking what he would take away from the Oval Office meeting yesterday. Xinis doesn’t think it counts as evidence. Ensign says he shows position of El Salvador…they don’t want to release “terrorists”

      Xinis: If I make finding of contempt, it will be based on record before me. And I don’t consider the transcript you gave me 15 minutes ago to be sufficient. Question is what you have done to facilitate release and what to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been sent

      [More about the “transcript” at the above link to my earlier comment]

      [continuing directly] Ensign: Ascertaining the position of El Salvador is important…also in transcript of Oval Office meeting is statement of Bondi saying we would facilitate his return.

      Xinis: We’re gonna do this by rule of civil procedure. Press conference won’t do. We’re gonna do interrogatories…follow rules…

      Xinis: I’ll remind everyone here that there are no business hours. It’ll be two weeks of “intense” discovery. Once we have record, take it from there.

      Ensign: Transcript of oval office meeting sets forth evidence consistent w/ federal rules of civil procedure..

      Ensign now points to paragraph 9 of the declaration by a government official, which it submitted earlier today, regarding what would happen if Garcia presented at a point of entry. Declaration said he’d be removed to 3rd country or back to El Salvador after withholding of removal removed…

      Reply
      • Attygmgm says:

        Not lost on the court, it seems, that press conferences are not conducted under oath. Rightfully rejected as evidence.

        Reply
    • harpie says:

      April 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM

      Xinis: Have you done it? [Brought him back?] If you haven’t done it, speculative….

      Ensign: If he presents at port of entry or embassy, he would be taken into US custody…this is narrow issue of what “facilitate” means

      Xinis: I disagree, and I’m prepared to issue order on what facilitate means..

      Xinis: This case the SCOTUS has made clear is a context not just in the ether of “pure law”…it’s matter of whether defendants complying w/ order to release from custody in El Salvador

      Xinis: Gov has taken differing positions in past of what “facilitate means”…doesnt necessarily mean you have to gas up plane, but you have done it before

      Ensign mentions potential appeal.

      Xinis: the Supreme Court has spoken, there is in my view nothing to appeal….So in my view, Xinis says, we do discovery. Now, do you wish to be heard on scope of discovery?

      Reply
    • harpie says:

      April 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM

      [continuing directly] Ensign asks Xinis to issue additional order clarifying scope of her TRO/injunction.

      Xinis: Not that difficult. The Supreme Court has spoken. Let’s talk about what SCOTUS has unequivocally deemed to be lawful. You made your arguments there, and this is now about the scope of the remedy….

      Xinis: We’re gonna do it in a targeted way but we’re not going to take a whole lot of time doing it [discovery]

      Ensign: We’ve made clear court doesn’t have authority to make this request of executive…

      Xinis: I’m not doing that. There’s so much daylight between that and what’s happening here..

      Xinis: To talk in generalities is simply delaying the process we need to go through to determine whether you’ve done what you can in good faith to comply w/ order

      Ensign: Disagree that it’s generalities. The plaintiffs have specifically asked court to compel gov to ask El Salvador for his release

      Xinis: But I’m not there yet. I keep going back to what SCOTUS said was “squarely” in my power and my view that you have not fulfilled the mandate I’ve issued. Discovery will bear that out, bc the affidavits are insufficient

      Ensign repereats his view that there are pure issues at law at play here that do not require discovery.

      Xinis: Ok, I’ll give you my order and you can object..this is what district courts are authorized to do [discovery]…courts are referees

      Xinis: I will issue written order setting out why I think expedited discovery is warranted. It’ll happen over 2 weeks. You’ll have opportunities to respond, etc….

      Xinis: I’m also going to issue a written letter how you’ll get expedited review in this process if meet and confer isn’t workable. If everyone operating in good faith, it’ll get done in 2 weeks.

      If not that’ll be fact in itself for court to consider

      Reply
    • harpie says:

      April 15, 2025 at 4:35 PM

      Xinis: Depositions to be completed by Wednesday, April 23.

      Any impediments to that?

      Ensign: We understand court’s position

      Xinis: So that means no impediments?

      Ensign: We don’t know at this time who will be deposed…

      Xinis: No, I’m saying the people who you’ve put forward as affiants..

      Ensign: I’m not prepared to put forward objections at this time. One of the affiants is an acting general counsel…

      Xinis: you should’ve considered privilege when you put up as an affiant…but if you have privilege objections, you can get them to me…But any issues producing deponents for depo?

      Xinis to Ensign: Cancel vacation. Cancel appointments. I’m usually pretty good about that kind of thing, but not this time.

      Ensign: We will move expeditiously, your honor.

      Xinis: Anything else?

      Ensign: For the record, we don’t think discovery appropriate, because we think this is a legal dispute.

      Xinis: Ok, will respond to that in written order. And your objection is preserved.

      Reply
      • P J Evans says:

        Ensign is really really trying to avoid committing to *anything*.
        This maladministration knows it’s wrong, and is trying to technicality its way out of the contempt it’s so richly earned from Xinis.

        Reply
    • harpie says:

      April 15, 2025 at 4:40 PM

      Now plaintiff’s counsel up. They have no further statements.

      Xinis: It’s a tight timeline.

      Says there will be requests for production, deponents, interrogatories..

      Xinis: Keep it targeted, keep it tight, that will keep it moving.

      My current target is that at the conclusion of discovery then plaintiffs will supplement their motion by April 28. After reply, will turn to it as soon as possible.

      April 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM
      And that’s it. Hearing over. There will be an expedited discovery period, with depositions set to be completed by 4/23.

      Reply
    • harpie says:

      It’s over by 4:45 PM [with a comment in the pokey at the moment].

      TRUMP et al REALLY don’t want to be discovery-ed

      Reply
      • harpie says:

        You’re quite welcome, dopefish and SL!
        I always plan to just reproduce SOME of the Posts…
        but I can never figure out which are the important ones fast enough.
        I am in awe of those [like Marcy] who can actually produce a THREAD like that!

        PS: [she thinks glumly] I guess I should check if there are any major discrepancies between the transcript TRUMP et al provided and the reality. uggg!

        Reply
  25. David F. Snyder says:

    Was Bukele Telles at for not wearing a tie? No? So bringing a sledge hammer to habeas corpus and sane-washing a dictator were the agenda for the day.

    Reply
  26. harpie says:

    And now for something very different…OMFG! LOL!
    I have been complaining to whomever will listen,
    about the gaudy new interior decorating in the Oval Office …

    …I am laughing so hard, I’m practically pissing my pants …

    https://bsky.app/profile/jonkeegan.com/post/3lmuybx7xqc2p
    April 15, 2025 at 5:07 PM

    Noticed a bunch of these ornate gold medallions slapped all over the Oval Office. We found em on Alibaba. “High-density Home Decoration Polyurethane Appliques Ornament PU Foam Veneer Accessories” from seller Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited. [link][PHOTOS]

    Reply
    • harpie says:

      HAHAHAHAHA!

      Wall Street Journal:

      https://bsky.app/profile/jeffjarvis.bsky.social/post/3lmwdjcnjjs2l
      April 16, 2025 at 6:01 AM

      Trump is not just making American evil, he’s making it gawdy.
      How Trump and His ‘Gold Guy’ Are Redecorating the White House [WSJ Link]

      Links to Dawsey and Wernau at WSJ:
      How Trump and His ‘Gold Guy’ Are Redecorating the White House
      The president is making the world’s most famous residence
      more like Mar-a-Lago, his gilded Florida club
      April 16, 2025 5:00 am ET

      […] President Trump wanted his portrait to glimmer.

      The White House asked that Trump’s portrait, along with Vice President’s JD Vance’s, be printed with a golden border that would catch the light, an administration official said. The reprint required metallic gold ink and a specialized printer. And it delayed the completion of the portraits, some of which had already been printed with a more understated white border, according to an internal government document outlining the request. […]

      Reply
      • harpie says:

        To assist with the White House makeover,
        Trump brought in a man that one of his advisers
        referred to as the president’s “gold guy.”

        A cabinetmaker from south Florida who has worked on projects at Mar-a-Lago, John Icart helped add custom-made gold finishes to the Oval Office, including gilded carvings for the fireplace mantel and the molding that wraps around the most famous office in the world, administration officials said. Icart traveled to Washington with Trump on Air Force One, according to one of the officials.
        He declined to comment, referring questions to the White House.

        “It’s the Golden Office for the Golden Age,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an email. A Government Publishing Office spokesman declined to comment. […]

        Reply
      • Rayne says:

        LOL I saw a copy of the portraits sent to federal offices and hung where everyone entering can see them.

        ISTG Trump’s is an AI-tweaked copy of his booking photo. Sure, let’s put some gold trim on that sucker.

        Reply
  27. dopefish says:

    Jonathan V. Last and Timothy Snyder are two voices who understand the stakes here.

    JVL:

    But they should be under no illusions. The old American order is dead. It ended on April 14, 2025, when a Latin American strongman sat in the Oval Office and discussed sending U.S. citizens to foreign concentration camps with the American president while they jointly defied the Supreme Court.

    Everyone who is not part of the authoritarian regime is a member of the dissident movement now. The sooner they realize it, the better.

    Professor Snyder:

    Horrible though all of this is, it is still state terror in outline, a test of how Americans will react. We can react by seeing all of this for what it is, and naming it by name: incipient state terror. We can react by associating ourselves with others [who] are repressed before we are. Only in solidarity do we affirm law. We can remind the other branches of government that their functions are being taken over by the executive. Citizens cannot do this alone; they have to remind the rest of the government of its constitutional functions.

    Reply
  29. e.a. foster says:

    It is unfortunate some one can’t just phone MS 13 and ask if Mr. Garcia is a member or not. Once it is confirmed he is not, Trump is going to look like the idiot he is. It is doubtful Mr Garcia will ever return to his family. This all serves a purpose for trump. He gets publicity, thinks it makes him look tough, and it does scare people.
    Private prisons in the U.S.A. are expensive. It will be much less expensive to send all the alleged criminals to out of country prisons. Families won’t be able to visit, no one will ever hear about what goes on in the prisons and the bodies can be disposed of to never be found again.
    Didn’t watch the news item regarding the group but this picture certainly is strange. these old white guys sitting round with their legs so far apart and their hands between their legs It looks actually comical. Actually they look like a bunch of apes. Mind you apes are nicer and brighter.
    The pres of el salvador, what an idiot. All they have to do is release Mr. Garcia to another country. I’m sure some one can fly down and pick him up and take him to a third country. But that isn’t what they want to do. They want to send a message, regardless of whether you are innocent or not, we will send any one we want to a concentration camp. gee trump is just so nazi.
    All of this makes me wonder if Trump or any one from his gang are receiving kick backs from El Salvador.

    Reply
  30. wa_rickf says:

    In typical Rwing fashion to keep digging and digging until something is found to support their original false contention, thus now finding something, anything, to make the original contention somewhat accurate, Faux “News” is reporting there is a spousal abuse claim from 2021 against Garcia.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/maryland-man-kilmar-abrego-garcia-exposed-police-records-violent-repeat-wife-beater

    Of course the commenters are now claiming that Liberals support spousal abuse and that Trump was correct to deport Garcia.

    Reply
    • dopefish says:

      If this weaksauce is all the evidence they could find of him being a “bad hombre”, it seems pretty obvious that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not the dangerous gang-membering terrorist the MAGA apologists keep claiming he is.

      In other news, the 4th circuit slapped down DOJ’s attempt to interrupt Judge Xinis’ accelerated discovery schedule.

      CNN reports:

      The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals said in its seven-page ruling Thursday that the Trump administration’s assertions in the case “should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”

      The unanimous ruling was written by Judge Harvie Wilkinson, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan. In it, he was extremely critical of the administration’s effort to undo some of Xinis’ recent orders in the case, sounding alarm bells about how its maneuverings in the matter have resulted in the two branches “grinding irrevocably against one another in a conflict that promises to diminish both.”

      Reply
  31. harpie says:

    Philip Bump, WaPo, GIFT link:

    https://bsky.app/profile/pbump.com/post/3lmy37wupo22r
    April 16, 2025 at 10:38 PM

    Wrote about the administration’s dishonest rhetoric about immigration and how its obvious, grotesque dishonesty about Kilmer Abrego Garcia is exposing a much deeper rot.
    Gift link: [[link]

    GIFT Link to:
    Trump wants a million deportations. One man is tripping him up.
    Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s story tells us far more than Trump’s dubious immigration numbers.
    Washington Post 4/16/25

    Reply
    • harpie says:

      […] In short, both Trump and Bukele appear to be complicit in a plan to allow MS-13 to operate in El Salvador on its own terms, in exchange for making it look like both are “cracking down” on the gang in their respective countries. Of course, the fact that MS-13 will continue to operate in cahoots with the El Salvadoran government means that citizens of that country who are victims of the gang will continue fleeing to the United States, undercutting the Trump administration’s claim that it is trying to end the “invasion” of asylum seekers. Then again, Trump needs a steady influx of people to continue trying to cross the border in order to keep claiming the “national emergency” he is using to expand his authority. So it’s a win-win propaganda operation. […]

      Reply

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