President Donald Trump knows the power of a picture. Even a questionable one. This week, he posted a black-and-white image to X showing a tattooed hand he claims belongs to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose deportation the Supreme Court recently ordered the U.S. to reverse. According to Trump, the tattoos—a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull—spell out “MS-13.” You’ll have to squint to see it. Hard.
“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States,” Trump wrote, holding the photo up in the Oval Office like a smoking gun.
The White House account chimed in too, quoting the old duck metaphor: “If it looks like a duck…”
But critics, including photo editors, lawmakers, and Garcia’s legal team, say the picture is at best, misleading—and at worst, doctored.
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Who Is Kilmar Abrego Garcia?
Garcia, 29, is a Salvadoran national who had been living in Maryland when he was arrested in 2019 and accused of gang affiliation. He denied any connection to MS-13, and he was never charged with a crime. Two immigration judges—citing sealed evidence—still ruled against him. Yet, because of the extreme danger he faced in El Salvador, Garcia was granted protection from deportation.
That didn’t stop the Trump administration from deporting him in March, later calling it an “administrative error.” When pressed, they doubled down—claiming Garcia was a threat.
The move sparked national outcry. Even the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the administration must facilitate his return. That hasn’t happened.
So now, Garcia is sitting in a Salvadoran prison while Trump tries to convince the public that he’s a gang member—by posting a photo of a tattooed hand.
See also: Wrongfully Deported by the U.S.: Maryland Man Now Trapped in El Salvador’s Harshest Prison
The Photo That Set Off a Firestorm
In the photo Trump shared, the hand has no visible “MS-13” lettering—just four symbols that the White House insists “represent” the letters. It’s not standard gang iconography, nor was this tattoo ever referenced in court. Critics were quick to point this out.
“This is an excellent example of altering a photo,” said former Minnesota state senator Linda Higgins. “You look foolish.”
Immigration attorneys noted that the government’s case against Garcia never included tattoo evidence. Instead, it relied on a 2019 tip from a confidential informant who said Garcia was connected to MS-13 in New York—despite no evidence that Garcia had ever lived there.
This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such “a fine and innocent person.” They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found… pic.twitter.com/31sNr2k1SK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2025
Trump’s Tattoo Theory vs. The Record
The symbols Trump highlighted—a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull—are vague at best. Gang experts and tattoo analysts say this isn’t typical MS-13 imagery. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from running with it.
Adding to the spectacle, Trump also claimed—without providing details—that Garcia’s “prison record was unbelievably bad.” There is no public record to support that.
Meanwhile, conservative influencers like Andy Ngo jumped in to suggest Garcia’s wife was “strategically censoring” his tattoos in videos promoting his GoFundMe campaign. The suggestion? That she was hiding gang ties. The evidence? Mostly conjecture.
See also: El Salvador Won’t Return Man Who Was Wrongfully Deported
Bukele, Margaritas, and Misinformation
The image scandal followed another viral moment: a photoshoot-worthy prison visit between Garcia and Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. The senator visited Garcia in El Salvador following his deportation, hoping to advocate for his return. But what he walked into was more than a little curated.
According to Van Hollen, Salvadoran authorities staged the encounter, placing salt-rimmed margarita glasses with cherries on the table and insisting the meeting happen near a pool. President Nayib Bukele posted the scene with heavy sarcasm, writing that Garcia was “miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ and ‘torture,’ now sipping margaritas.”
Van Hollen said neither he nor Garcia drank anything.
“They want to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar—which of course is a big, fat lie,” he told reporters.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!🍹 pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025
See also: Can a Green Card Holder Be Deported? What to Know After Columbia Student’s Arrest
The Bigger Picture
Trump’s attempt to rebrand Garcia as a foreign terrorist through a grainy hand tattoo isn’t just a personal vendetta—it’s a political move. With immigration once again a key 2024 campaign issue, the White House is trying to control the narrative by manufacturing a simple villain: tattoos, gang labels, and a handy scapegoat.
But the Supreme Court has spoken. Garcia’s legal team is still fighting for his return. And unless someone in the Oval Office can produce an actual criminal record—or a tattoo that says more than “I went to Hot Topic in 2008”—this story may say more about Trump’s tactics than Garcia’s truth.
