PoliticsDonald Trump Snaps at Kaitlan Collins for Asking About Man Wrongly Deported to El Salvador: 'How Long Do We Have to Answer This From You?'
Donald Trump and Kaitlan Collins had a tense moment at the White House.
Kaitlan Collins and Donald Trump butted heads once again.
On Monday, April 15, the CNN star and other journalists gathered at the White House, where El Salvador President Nayib Bukele was present to discuss Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported.
On 'The Source With Kaitlan Collins,' the host played a video clip of her interaction with Donald Trump from earlier that day.
Later that night on The Source With Kaitlan Collins, the reporter played video clips from the day and pointed out how the president consistently asked other people to step in instead of answering questions himself.
"Do you plan to ask President Bukele to help return the man who your administration says was mistakenly deported?" she questioned the commander in chief, who then asked United States Attorney General Pam Bondi to respond.
At the meeting, the president said of the journalist's inquiries, 'How long do we have to answer this question from you?'
"First and foremost, he was illegally in our country. He had been illegally in our country. And in 2019, two courts, an immigration court and an appellate immigration court, ruled that he was a member of [the gang] MS-13, and he was illegally in our country," Bondi stated. "Right now, it was a paperwork — 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 businessman then asked United States Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller to add on to Bondi's answer.
Collins then doubled down, saying, "Mr. President, you said that if the Supreme Court said someone needed to be returned, that you would abide by that. You said that on Air Force One, just a few days ago. And they said that —"
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The meeting at the White House was about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador.
Before she could finish, the POTUS interrupted her and spat back, "How long do we have to answer this question from you?"
"Why don’t you just say, 'Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country.' Why can’t you just say that?" he expressed to Collins.
Back on Collins' CNN show, she noted of the White House meeting, "As you can see there, in the Oval Office today, the President seemed to backtrack on what he said about the Supreme Court. And instead, leaned on some of his top aides to help make the case."
The former White House correspondent also clarified the facts of the situation at hand.
Collins shaded Trump for relying on his 'top aides' to answer questions instead of doing so himself.
"Abrego Garcia was in the United States illegally after he entered the country sometime around 2011," she noted, "but in 2019, he was granted legal status by an immigration judge who found that he was facing danger from gang members in his home country. His wife is a U.S. citizen, along with their children."
Added Collins: "And as for the declaration that courts found Garcia to be a member of MS-13. his attorneys have disputed that, a federal judge has said the evidence about that claim wasn’t substantiated, and he has not been charged as a gang member or a terrorist."
