Donald Trump and El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele speak to reporters in Oval Office
Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, are speaking together from the Oval Office now. I’ll bring you all the key lines here.
Key events
‘If they want to, we would provide a plane’: Pam Bondi says it’s ‘up to El Salvador’ to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to US
Asked if he’s planning to ask Bukele to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March, to the US, Trump defers to Pam Bondi.
The US attorney general doubles down on the administration’s claim that Abrego Garcia was in the country “illegally” and was a gang member:
In 2019 two courts ruled that he was a member of MS13 and he was illegally in our country. Right now, it was additional paperwork had needed to be done. That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him – that’s not up to us. The supreme court ruled that if El Salvador wants to return him, we would ‘facilitate’ it, meaning provide a plane.
‘Putin should’ve never started it’: Trump acknowledges Putin started the war in Ukraine before blaming ‘everyone’
Asked what “mistake” Russia had made in its attack on Ukraine on Sunday, Trump says the mistake was letting the war happen.
If Biden were competent and if Zelenskyy were competent, and I don’t know that he is, we had a rough session with this guy, he just kept asking for more and more … that war shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.
He goes on: “I went four years and Putin wouldn’t even bring it up. As soon as the election was rigged and I wasn’t here, that war started,” he claims.
Trump adds: “Biden should’ve stopped it.” He then blames it on oil prices being too high, before claiming:
This was Biden’s war and I’m trying to stop it.
He doesn’t answer the part of the reporter’s question about giving Vladimir Putin a deadline by which to abide by a ceasefire, but then – contrary to his previous statements – he appears to acknowledge that Putin started the war, before backtracking somewhat, blaming everyone.
That’s a war that should’ve never been allowed to start. Biden couldn’t stopped it and Zelenskyy could’ve stopped it, and Putin should’ve never started it. Everybody’s to blame.
They’re now having a bizarre conversation about how preventing “men” from competing in “women’s sports” is about protecting women from violence and abuse.
They then both congratulate each other on the number of women in their cabinets.
“We’re very eager to help,” Bukele says.
“You are helping us out, and we appreciate it,” Trump tells Bukele, shaking his hand.
Trump claims the previous administration allowed people to enter the country freely, repeating his usual claim that they came from “prisons and mental institutions”.
“They came from the gangs of Venezuela and other places … hundreds of thousands and even millions of them came,” he claims.
Bukele acknowledges the US’s “terrorism problem” that he is “happy to help with”.
Trump welcomes his “friend” Bukele, congratulating him on his efforts to tackle crime and the “great job” he’s doing.
Donald Trump and El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele speak to reporters in Oval Office
Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, are speaking together from the Oval Office now. I’ll bring you all the key lines here.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller denies that Maryland man was mistakenly deported to El Salvador
While we wait for the Trump-Bukele press briefing from the Oval Office to begin (they seem to be running behind schedule), Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has denied on Fox News that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, something he called a “hoax” despite the administration conceding the mistake in court documents.
Doubling down on the claim that Abrego Garcia was in the US illegally (he wasn’t), Miller said:
Nobody was mistakenly sent to El Salvador. He was ordered deported from this country in 2019. He’s an illegal alien. His home nation is El Salvador. That is where he belongs. When you have a withholding order, to be clear, that is not pause your deportation. In other words, in the worst-case scenario, it means you get deported to another country.
Where is he from? El Salvador. Where is he a resident and citizen of? El Salvador. Is he here illegally? Yes. Does he have a deportation order? Yes.
A senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official previously stated in court filings that Abrego Garcia was in fact sent to El Salvador as a result of an “administrative error”.
Miller said he is convinced that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13, though his family denies that he is affiliated with the gang.
Miller also claimed the supreme court’s endorsement of a federal judge’s directive that US officials must “facilitate” bringing Abrego Garcia back to the US has “been portrayed wrong for 72 hours in the media”.
Speaking to CNN, Miller said the Trump administration will continue deporting people it deems part of foreign terrorist organizations to El Salvador and “there’s no upper limit” to how many can be deported.
Well, as an example, there are thousands of either Tren de Aragua members left in this country or their affiliates and associates. So obviously some portion of those will be going to El Salvador as part of our effort to eradicate this foreign terrorist organization from the United States. But there’s no upper limit to the agreement. We’re going to continue to send foreign terrorist aliens to El Salvador, as well as many other countries.
After repeated questions from reporters, Miller would not say if the administration would be asking El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, to return Abrego Garcia to the US. He then repeated the claim that Abrego Garcia was an “illegal alien” (again, he was in the US legally).
He is El Salvadorian. He is an illegal alien. He was deported to El Salvador. I would welcome anyone here to tell me what country they think we should be sending El Salvador illegal aliens to.
Pressed by a reporter about a judge previously ordering Abrego Garcia not to be deported to El Salvador, Miller continued to defend the administration’s move.
What you’re referring to is an immigration judge. So, that’s article II, not article III, so there’s no article III restraint on his removal. A withholding order or a cancelation of removal order. First of all, as I’m sure you know, does not eliminate the deportation order.
Pennsylvania arson suspect planned to beat governor with hammer, documents say
A man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion – where he set a fire – had planned to beat the governor, Josh Shapiro, with a hammer if he found him because he hates the politician, according to court documents released on Monday.
The fire left significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests to evacuate the building early on Sunday. The man, arrested later in the day, faces charges including attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities said.
During a police interview, authorities said Cody Balmer told them after he was taken into custody that he would have beaten Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he had found him. Balmer had walked an hour from his home to the governor’s residence in Harrisburg, and during the police interview, “Balmer admitted to harboring hatred towards … Shapiro,” according to a police affidavit. The affidavit did not note why Balmer purportedly hated Shapiro.
The most pressing question facing the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, when he meets with Donald Trump later this morning, is will he return a Venezuelan man whom even the Trump administration admits was sent to El Salvador by mistake?
Per Politico, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was under specific court order not to be deported to El Salvador due to the risk of persecution, but got swept up in the Trump administration’s rush to deport alleged gang members. (CBS News reviewed the 238 cases last month and found precious few have criminal records. None of these men were given due process.) The supreme court last week confirmed lower court decisions and ruled that the administration must “facilitate” Garcia’s return to the United States. After which precisely nothing has happened.
In a court filing published late last night, Politico reports that the Trump administration insisted Garcia’s lawyers have over-interpreted the Scotus ruling, and that to “facilitate” his return means simply allowing it to happen from a domestic point of view. The Trump administration is also claiming the US supreme court has no jurisdiction over what El Salvador does with prisoners, nor over how Trump should act with regard to foreign relations. Which means that in the White House’s view, it’s entirely up to Maga-aligned Bukele whether to send the prisoner back.
Georgetown alumni and students call for release of scholar detained by immigration authorities
Michael Sainato
More than 370 alumni of Georgetown University joined 65 current students there in signing on to a letter opposing immigration authorities’ detention of Dr Badar Khan Suri, a senior postdoctoral fellow at the institution’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU).
The letter, dated Sunday and shared with the Guardian, follows the Trump administration’s detention of Khan Suri – a citizen of India – on 17 March. He is being held at an immigration prison in Alvarado, Texas, where his next hearing is scheduled for 6 May.
Immigration officials revoked his J-1 student visa, alleging his father-in-law was an adviser to Hamas officials more than a decade ago – and claiming he was “deportable” because of his posts on social media in support of Palestine.
Khan Suri’s wife, who is of Palestinian descent, is a US citizen.
Citing the ideals of the Catholic religious order that founded Georgetown University in Washington DC, Sunday’s letter said Khan Suri’s “persecution represents a fundamental violation of academic freedom, due process, and the Jesuit values that define” the institution. It adds:
We see his detention clearly for what it is: an attempt to instill fear, silence critical thought, and erode solidarity among students and scholars of varying backgrounds and identities. We reject this attempt and demand his immediate release.
The letter notes immigration authorities arrested Khan Suri at his home in Virginia, and it contends that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has provided no evidence to support its claims.
A senior Georgetown official, meanwhile, said the university was not provided an explanation for Khan Suri’s detention. Joel Hellman, the dean of Georgetown’s school of foreign service, said in a statement:
We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention.
Sunday’s letter compares Khan Suri’s detention to those of other academic scholars around the US under Donald Trump’s second presidency, including Mahmoud Khalil, Ranjani Srinivasan, and Leqaa Kordia of Columbia University – as well as Rasha Alawieh of Brown University.
Zelenskyy invites Trump to Ukraine to see damage from Russia’s invasion
Luke Harding
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited Donald Trump to visit Ukraine to see the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion, while the US president appeared to play down Moscow’s latest deadly attack, the worst on civilians this year, calling it “a mistake”.
International leaders condemned Russia’s strike on the centre of the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, which killed 34 people, including two children, and injured more than 100. Two ballistic missiles hit as people made their way to church for Palm Sunday.
Asked about Russia’s attack on civilians, Trump appeared to claim it was accidental and said he was trying to get the war stopped: “I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing.”
Trump also implied his predecessor Joe Biden was at fault for the war that began with Vladimir Putin’s invasion. “This war would never have started if I were president. That war is a shame,” he said.
In an interview with the CBS show 60 Minutes, recorded before the attack on Sumy, Zelenskyy urged Trump to see the damage from Russia’s invasion for himself. “Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he said.
The Ukrainian president pushed back on a suggestion made by the US vice-president, JD Vance, that Ukraine laid on “propaganda tours” for foreign leaders. “We will not prepare anything. It will not be theatre. You can go exactly where you want, in any city which [has] been under attacks,” Zelenskyy said.
He expressed frustration that senior White House figures continue to repeat Kremlin talking points. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff – who met Putin on Friday in St Petersburg – recently said four Ukrainian regions had “voted” to join Russia, a reference to fake referendums in occupied territory.
“I believe that Russian narratives prevail in the United States. It seems to me that the vice-president is justifying Putin’s actions. This is a change in reality. The Russians are the aggressors, and we are the victims,” Zelenskyy said.
‘The sky won’t fall’: China plays down Trump tariff risks as stock markets rally
Jasper Jolly
China has played down the risk of damage to its exports from Donald Trump’s tariffs, with an official saying the “the sky won’t fall”, as stock markets rose on Monday amid signs of a retreat on electronics restrictions.
The world’s second-largest economy has diversified its trade away from the US in recent years, according to Lyu Daliang, a customs administration spokesperson, in comments reported by state-owned agency Xinhua.
China has retaliated forcefully to Washington’s tariffs, with 125% levies on US imports against the US’s total of 145% border taxes on goods moving the other way. The trade war has prompted turmoil on financial markets since Trump first revealed tariffs on every country in the world on 2 April. Since then he has partly retreated on the highest levies on most trading partners for at least 90 days, but has doubled down in his spat with China.
The White House offered further relief over the weekend with an exemption from the steepest tariffs for electronics including smartphones, laptops and semiconductors. Trump officials later appeared to walk that back with the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, saying such devices would be “included in the semiconductor tariffs which are coming in probably a month or two”.
Trump said on Sunday night on his social network, Truth Social, that “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’,” highlighting that smartphones are still subject to 20% levies and suggesting they could still rise higher.
However, investors on Monday appeared unconvinced by Trump’s attempts to play down the retreat. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.2% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 2.2% and the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges climbed by 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively. European stock market indices also jumped in opening trades, with London’s FTSE 100 up by 1.6%, Germany’s Dax up 2.2%, and France’s Cac 40 up 2%.
“The sky won’t fall” for Chinese exports,” China’s Lyu said. “These efforts have not only supported our partners’ development but also enhanced our own resilience.”
Rome to host second round of US-Iran nuclear talks – reports
A second round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran will be held in Rome, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani was reported as saying on Monday by the country’s main news agency Ansa.
Iran and the US said they held “positive” and “constructive” talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene this week. Axios reports that Steve Witkoff and lead Iranian negotiator Abbas Araghchi talked for roughly 45 minutes this weekend – a win for the Trump administration, which had wanted direct rather than indirect negotiations.
“We received a request from the interested parties and from Oman, which is playing the role of mediator, and we have given a positive response,” Tajani was quoted by Ansa as saying at the world Expo in Osaka, Japan.
Rome has often hosted these type of talks, Tajani said, and is “prepared to do everything it takes to support all negotiations that can lead to a resolution of the nuclear issue, and to building peace”.
Earlier, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter, Axios reported that the second round of the US-Iranian talks would be held in Rome on Saturday.
Donald Trump, who has threatened military action if no deal is reached on halting Iran’s nuclear program, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he met with advisers on Iran and expected a quick decision. He gave no further details.
The previous day he had told reporters that the Iran situation was “going pretty good, I think”.
