"Oopsie, too late. "That post on X from the President of El Salvador got retweeted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the weekend with a laugh-crying emoji over a headline about a judge's ruling. The judge ordered the Trump Administration not to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador. That came after a Brown University physician in the United States on an H1-B visa from Lebanon was sent back. Even though a federal judge issued an order that she appear at an in-person hearing on Monday.In a court filing today, lawyers for the government said US Customs and Border Patrol officers said they didn't learn of the order until after the doctor was sent back.The administration insists it is not defying court orders. Trump hasn't yet openly and explicitly defied the courts. Can he undermine them just by flirting with defiance?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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By almost any measure, a president openly defying a court order would represent a constitutional crisis, a tectonic event in American history. And yet when President Trump was asked on Sunday whether he had defied a federal judge's order, he said he wasn't sure.
I don't know. You have to speak to the lawyers.
The order in question came from a federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. He told the administration not to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador. Trump had just invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove people he said were members of a gang. And the judge ordered the government to turn around any planes already in the air.
At a press briefing Monday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt offered slightly more clarity on the administration's actions.
All of the planes subject to the written order of this judge departed U.S. soil, U.S. territory before the judge's written order. But what about the verbal order, which of course carries the same legal weight as a written order, and said for the planes to turn around if they were in the air?
Well, there's actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a written order, and our lawyers are determined to ask and answer those questions in court.
Here's what's not in dispute. More than 250 Venezuelans, some of whom the Trump administration says are members of a criminal gang, were ultimately taken to El Salvador on Saturday. El Salvador is holding them in the country's terrorism confinement center. The Salvadoran president posted a headline about the judicial order on X with the caption, Oopsie, too late, and a laugh-crying emoji.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted it. That whole episode came after a Brown University physician in the United States on a special work visa from Lebanon was sent back, even though a federal judge issued an order that she appear at an in-person hearing on Monday. In a court filing today, lawyers for the government said U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol officers said they didn't learn of the judge's order until after the doctor was sent back. Members of the administration have attacked federal judges for blocking Trump's actions. They've even suggested courts don't always have the authority to overrule the executive branch. Levitt was asked about that directly on Monday, and her answer was less direct.
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