Does a printout of a photo held up by President Trump in a picture on social media authentically show the characters "MS13" on the hand of Kilmar Abrego Garcia? No, that's not true: The letters and numbers appear to have been added to the picture. Other pictures of Abrego Garcia's hand only show what looks like a marijuana leaf, a smiley face with x's for eyes, a cross and a skull.
The printout appeared in a picture posted on X (archived here) by President Donald Trump on April 18, 2025 accompanied by a text that read:
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 that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc. I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
This is what the photo looked like:
(Image: screenshot from X.com account of Donald Trump)
A picture posted by President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador on X on April 18 (archived here) showing a meeting between Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland shows Abrego Garcia's hand:
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
The full picture:
(Image credit: Nayib Bukele X.com account)
When zoomed it, it is quite clear the letters and numbers "MS13" are not present on the hand, although the four other symbols are there:
Another picture of Abrego Garcia that is widely shared on social media and which was used in reporting by USA Today (archived here) and Fox 5 NY (archived here) similarly did not show the numbers and letters:
(Image credit: USA Today article, "PROVIDED: CASA")
