It was Monday in Washington, and the tension was palpable.
Last week, the Supreme Court had ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a maximum-security El Salvadoran prison. The stakes were high — both for Mr. Abrego Garcia, whose wife has begged for his return, and for the question of whether the White House would comply with the courts.
Now, here was the answer, delivered from the Oval Office by a chorus of the administration’s top officials, as well as El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele (who once described himself as the world’s “coolest dictator”).
There was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, squished on a couch between Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff, crowded in behind them, along with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, the architect of much of the administration’s domestic policy. In the middle, center stage, was President Trump, sitting in a gold armchair.
As the cameras rolled and reporters jostled, each figure jumped in to play their parts. Their lines did not always hew to the facts.
“That’s up to El Salvador if they want to return him,” Ms. Bondi said. “That’s not up to us.”
“I don’t understand what the confusion is,” Mr. Rubio said. He added, “No court in the United States has a right to conduct a foreign policy of the United States. It’s that simple, end of story.”
Mr. Miller fumed at the reporters in the room, claiming that “people like CNN” simply “want foreign terrorists in the country who kidnap women and children.”
“Of course I’m not going to do it,” Mr. Bukele said when a reporter asked if he would send back the man from Maryland. The El Salvadoran leader said that to do so would be akin to sending “a terrorist into the United States.” (Mr. Abrego Garcia has not been charged as a gang member or a terrorist, and a federal judge has said the evidence that he is part of the gang MS-13 has not been substantiated.)
Past White Houses turned to court filings or sober policy statements to argue their case when on defense. But Mr. Trump has a keen sense of how to take control of the story line — and the power of giving the public a look inside the West Wing.
The Oval Office dramalogue is now becoming a regular set piece for the president. Mr. Trump is using the increasingly gilded room as a place to flex his executive muscle while recasting the narrative around some of his most consequential foreign policies. It’s a space in which his cabinet members lavish him with praise, and where foreign leaders quickly find out where they stand. In February, it was where he and Mr. Vance confronted President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, berating him as an ingrate for all to see.
This time, there was another young foreign leader, tieless and in a dark outfit, sitting beside Mr. Trump. But this one seemed to relish his role as guest star. Certainly, he understood how to play the part.
Mr. Bukele offered up Trumpian turns of phrase, saying he “liberated millions” in his own country. “Very good,” Mr. Trump hummed appreciatively. “Who gave him that line? Do you think I can use it?” Both men laughed chummily.
“What you’re doing with the border is remarkable,” Mr. Bukele said, adding, “Why are those numbers not in the media?” That prompted Mr. Trump to take one of his regular swipes at the press. He paused to marvel at Mr. Bukele for even asking such a thing. “Isn’t that a great question?” Mr. Trump said. (In Mr. Bukele’s country, the press is not so free).
At 43, Mr. Bukele is close in age to Mr. Trump’s adult sons (ages 41 and 47) and his vice president (40). Mr. Trump repeatedly called him a “young man” and seemed charmed by his youthful appearance. “You sort of look like a teenager,” he observed at one point. “You look like a teenager!”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad, Mr. President,” Mr. Bukele responded with a coy grin.
When Mr. Trump began to talk about another one of his most animating issues, transgender athletes, Mr. Bukele picked up on the topic and ran with it, throwing in the phrase “D.E.I. hires” for good measure.
Mr. Trump seemed pleased — so much so that he invited his guest to the next performance, a photo op with Ohio State football players and coaches. “By the way, we have the great championship team from Ohio coming in today,” Mr. Trump said, “if you want to stick around?”
