For several weeks, President Donald Trump and his administration have been grasping for evidence that a man his administration deported and imprisoned in error is a dangerous gang member, and the effort has now reached what may be an untoppable peak: the President repeatedly insisting in an in-person interview that an obvious text label that says MS13 in the Calibri typeface is an actual tattoo.
On Tuesday, Trump sat for an interview with ABC News correspondent Terry Moran. Moran asked Trump about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison without due process and in violation of a protective order, and who remains in El Salvador despite a Supreme Court ruling demanding he facilitate the man’s return. Trump said (contradicting his administration’s previous public statements) that he “could” pick up the phone and order Abrego Garcia’s return, but that he refused because Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang. His evidence: “on his knuckles, he had MS-13.”
That would be the sort of evidence the government ordinarily would present at an immigration hearing, but so far it’s refused. Trump has posted what he claims to be an image of these tattoos to his Truth Social account. Here it is:
You have perhaps noticed that these are not tattoos of the letters “MS-13.”
The photo Trump shared (whose provenance was unclear as of April 21st) depicts a hand with four symbols, above which have been overlaid “M” “S” “1” and “3” in what looks like basic Calibri typeface, apparently translating what are allegedly coded gang symbols. This was dubious in its own right, and critics pointed out that Trump’s post could fool a casual observer into thinking the letters were tattoos, since the image was small and Trump described him as having “‘MS-13’ tattooed onto his knuckles.” Still, you could at least charitably argue the image wasn’t meant to be deceptive — this is basic labeling. “Dragging text boxes in Microsoft Word”-level stuff.
But after this interview, there’s nearly no doubt: Trump really believes — or at least wants people to believe — that Abrego Garcia really has MS13 tattooed on his knuckles in Calibri.
Moran mildly corrected Trump’s statement: “He had some tattoos that are interpreted that way,” he said, before trying to move on. Trump stopped him and repeated the claim. Then things start getting weird.
Moran: He did not have the letter ‘M’,‘S’,‘1’,‘3’.
Trump: It says ‘M’,‘S’,‘1’,‘3’.
Moran: That was photoshopped. So let me just—
Trump: That was photoshop? Terry, you can’t — hey, they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you’re doing the interview. I picked you because — frankly I never heard of you, but that’s okay.
In short: Trump grinds the interview to a halt at the claim Abrego Garcia’s tattoos are symbols. He says that the literal letters are on his knuckles, and he says it repeatedly. Here’s the clip:
This is a small thing in the overall landscape of Trump’s many false statements, but it’s a particularly absurd instance of lying, doubling down on the lie, and getting in a full-fledged argument over a picture that’s been obviously altered.
For over a year now, we’ve been asking what is a photo in the context of AI. But if the President of the United States can fall (or, again, vehemently claim to fall) for what looks like a two-minute MS Paint hack job, it’s terrifying to imagine what actual AI-powered trickery might accomplish — or alternately, maybe we’re seeing that the quality of fakery matters less than crafting a lie people want to believe. Either way, though, we’re not ready for this.
