El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said Monday that the United States will not return a man who was deported in error, calling the idea akin to “trafficking a terrorist.” The remarks, made during a high-profile Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, have sparked fresh controversy as the United States faces scrutiny over its handling of extradition cases.

The man at the center of the dispute, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was living legally in Maryland before being deported to El Salvador on March 15, in what the United States called an administrative error. Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering his extradition, Trump administration officials have shown no intention of complying.

“I have no authority to extradite him,” Bukele told reporters. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” he echoed the Trump administration’s claim — a charge his lawyers strongly deny and say there is no evidence to support it.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the United States had fulfilled its obligation, adding, “We should have provided a plane.” But critics argue the administration is obstructing the court order by not pressing for Abrego Garcia’s release from El Salvador’s custody.

The extraditions are part of a broader Trump-Bukele deal that sees El Salvador receive U.S. funding to hold deportees in a controversial “terrorist detention center.” Human rights groups say the prison violates basic due process and holds many without credible links to gangs.

A court hearing on Abrego Garcia’s case is scheduled for Tuesday, and legal experts suggest the administration may be defying judicial authority. Meanwhile, Trump remains unmoved, telling reporters last week, “The foreign policy of the United States is run by the president, not by a court.”

The legal and diplomatic standoff underscores growing tensions over immigration enforcement and executive power in the United States and abroad.