Donald Trump might be used to steamrolling interviews, but ABC’s Terry Moran wasn’t having it. In a now-viral exchange during an interview marking Trump’s first 100 days of his second term, the former reality TV host-turned-president got publicly wrecked when confronted with a cold, hard fact: a photo Trump used to claim a wrongly deported immigrant was a gang member had been digitally altered—and not subtly.
The man in question, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was legally living and working in Maryland when he was erroneously deported in March to El Salvador’s infamous CECOT mega-prison. Trump defended the deportation by claiming Abrego had “MS-13” tattooed on his knuckles. Sounds damning, right? Except… he didn’t.
The Photoshop Debacle
What Trump did have was a photo. A very convenient one. It showed four tattoos—a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull—on Abrego’s hand. But here’s the kicker: in Trump’s post on Truth Social, the numbers and letters “M-S-1-3” were neatly placed above the tattoos. Not inked. Not even blended. Just hovering there like a bad meme. And experts quickly pointed out—it was obviously Photoshopped.
Terry Moran pointed this out. Gently. Repeatedly. But Trump wasn’t hearing it.
“It says ‘M-S-1-3,’” Trump insisted.
“That was Photoshopped,” Moran said.
“You can’t do that, Terry!”
Yes, Donald. You can’t do that. And yet, you did.
Gang Experts: “That’s Not It, Chief”
Mara Salvatrucha, aka MS-13, is a notoriously violent gang that originated in Los Angeles and spread to Central America. Their members do get tattoos—usually large, obvious, and unmistakable. What did Abrego have? Not even close.
Criminal justice experts, ex-gang members, and even active ones consulted by CBS said they’d never seen tattoos like Abrego’s used by MS-13. But that didn’t stop Trump from insisting, live on camera, that the digitally added letters proved his case.
Moran tried to pivot. Ukraine, Russia, the economy—anything else. But Trump was locked in.
“Terry! Terry! Do you want me to show you the picture?”
“I’ve seen the picture,” Moran replied, sighing audibly.
“It’s contested,” he said.
“It’s not contested. It’s MS-13,” Trump snapped.
The Tantrum Spiral
When all else failed, Trump went full toddler mode.
“You’re just such a disservice,” he told Moran. “Why don’t you just say, ‘Yes, he does,’ and go on to something else?”
At one point, he even tried to belittle Moran by saying, “Frankly, I never heard of you, but that’s OK.”
Cool burn, bro.
But Moran didn’t flinch. He just kept doing what actual journalists do: pointing out facts.
The Bigger Picture: Deport Now, Verify Later
The real tragedy here is that Abrego Garcia—who has no criminal record and was living in the U.S. with a valid work permit—was deported without a hearing. His wife and children are U.S. citizens. Even the immigration judge had ruled he qualified for protection. But none of that stopped ICE from snatching him up and dumping him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere.
Now, Trump’s administration is trying to justify the deportation by pointing to a Photoshop job that wouldn’t pass a high school art class.
Reddit Verdict: Absolutely Murdered
From the awkward silence to the visible eye-rolls, this was a masterclass in fact-checking a public figure to his face—and watching him unravel in real time.
Trump tried to turn a sloppy digital smear into a smoking gun. Instead, he got smoked.
