President Donald Trump’s recent interview with ABC News has ignited controversy, with some describing it as “tragic.” During the session, Trump clashed with journalist Terry Moran over a contentious image he shared on Truth Social, which was accused of being photoshopped.
In the Oval Office on April 29, Trump spoke with Moran about his first 100 days in office, addressing various key issues. Among them was the case of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Maryland resident deported with hundreds of alleged criminals to El Salvador’s Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT).
Kilmar has denied any gang affiliations, yet on April 21, Trump posted a photo on Truth Social showing tattoos on Kilmar’s hand, claiming they indicated MS-13 connections.
Trump interpreted various symbols in the tattoos as references to MS-13, but experts, including a long-time community activist speaking to CBS, have challenged this interpretation, stating they have never seen such symbols used for MS-13.
During the interview, Moran referred to the image as “photoshopped,” suggesting that the “M S 1 3” seen above the tattoos was digitally added to clarify the supposed meaning.
In response, Trump said, “And you think it was photoshopped? Don’t Photoshop it, go look at his hand.”
He continued, “Terry, he has MS-13 on his knuckles. Okay? You do such a disservice, why don’t you just say ‘yes he does’ and go onto something else.”
Many have expressed disbelief at Trump’s insistence on his version of events.
Comments on Reddit reflected this sentiment, with one user stating, “Dude gave him a million chances to not look like an absolute idiot lol”
Another commenter observed, “His supporters believe everything is saying. Seems like people hear this and all they think is how crazy he sounds but don’t forget there’s a significant portion that hear these and don’t think anything is off.”
One user simply remarked, “God that was tragic.”
Others contributed comments like, “This is nuts. He actually thinks the text is real,” and “Mind-blowing arrogance and stupidity on display.”
Someone else humorously noted, “Like I just assumed they would say ‘oh we put that there to translate the tattoo’ not that it actually said ms13 in f**king times new Roman.”