A federal judge in Washington openly challenged President Donald Trump’s credibility on Wednesday, asking whether the former president had misled the public about his ability to bring back a deported migrant with a simple phone call.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg raised the sharp question during a hearing focused on the fate of 137 Venezuelan migrants currently held inside El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison, CECOT. The migrants were deported under the rarely invoked 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a wartime relic now at the center of a high-stakes constitutional battle.
Boasberg appeared skeptical of the government’s position that it cannot retrieve the migrants, especially after Trump claimed during a televised interview on April 30 that he could get one deportee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, released just by calling El Salvador’s president.
“So is the President not telling the truth?” Boasberg asked Justice Department attorney Abhishek Kambli.
Kambli maintained that while the U.S. may have influence, it does not equate to legal custody over the individuals being held. But Boasberg pressed on, highlighting public admissions from U.S. officials. He pointed to a $6 million deal reportedly paid by Washington to San Salvador to house the migrants, and statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggesting CECOT was being used as a U.S. enforcement “tool.”
“Is that another way of saying that a number of these statements just aren’t true?” the judge asked, unmoved by Kambli’s response that some remarks had “lacked nuance.”
The case, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, accuses the Trump administration of denying the migrants their right to challenge deportation, and asks the court to compel the government to help secure their return.
Boasberg hasn’t issued a ruling yet, but indicated he sees signs the U.S. remains effectively responsible for the migrants’ confinement — even if they are locked up in a foreign prison.
Meanwhile, the broader legal and political firestorm continues to grow. Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 to fast-track deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, accusing them of waging “irregular warfare” against the U.S. on orders from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
But those claims are now under heavy fire. Families of the deported deny gang involvement, and a classified intelligence memo obtained through public records disputes Trump’s assertions. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, there is no evidence Maduro is directing Tren de Aragua operations in the U.S.
Even Venezuela itself has dismissed the gang’s continued existence as a “massive lie” propagated by its political opposition. The government claims it dismantled the group in 2023.
Despite a separate federal judge ordering action to bring Abrego Garcia back, there has been no public indication that the Trump administration has followed through.
The courtroom exchange leaves a stark question hanging in the air: Can a president say one thing to the public — and another in court — without consequence?
The White House and Homeland Security have so far declined to comment.
