In a heated exchange that’s now ricocheting across the internet, former President Donald Trump erupted when a journalist challenged his claims about immigration during an ABC News interview on April 28, 2025. The clip, clocking in at just under two minutes, has racked up over 35 million views in days, with major outlets like Yahoo News and The Daily Beast reporting its wildfire spread. It’s not just the outburst that’s gripping viewers—it’s how it distills the raw, confrontational essence of Trump’s time in office.
The moment unfolded when Trump, discussing border security, claimed a man photographed in El Salvador bore MS-13 gang tattoos on his knuckles. The interviewer, armed with facts, cut in: “There’s a disagreement with that. He had some tattoos that were interpreted that way, but let’s move on.” Trump’s face tightened. “No, no, you can’t do that,” he snapped, his voice climbing. “This is why people no longer believe the news because it’s fake news.” He doubled down, insisting the tattoos were undeniable proof of gang ties, even as the host pressed that the evidence didn’t align. The exchange grew testy, Trump’s frustration boiling over as he accused the media of dodging the truth.
This wasn’t a one-off. Trump’s presidency, from 2017 to 2021, was marked by a relentless tug-of-war with fact-checkers. Official records from the time—like a 2018 Justice Department report on immigration enforcement—show Trump often leaned on vivid but unverified anecdotes to paint a dire picture of border issues. One example: his repeated claims about “prayer rugs” found at the border, suggesting terrorist infiltration, which Customs and Border Protection never substantiated. The Washington Post, tracking Trump’s statements, logged over 30,000 false or misleading claims by the end of his term, a figure cited in congressional hearings in 2021.
The viral clip also nods to a specific case that haunted Trump’s immigration policies. In 2017, the administration deported Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland man, to El Salvador after mistakenly labeling him a gang member. A Supreme Court ruling in 2018 called the move an error, ordering the government to aid García’s return. Trump’s recent comments in the ABC interview seem to echo this incident, though he didn’t name García directly.
What makes this video sting is its familiarity. Trump’s irritation, his insistence on bending reality to his narrative, mirrors moments like his 2019 clash with CNN’s Jim Acosta over border wall funding or his 2020 dismissal of COVID-19 death tolls as “exaggerated.” The ABC interviewer’s calm fact-checking, met with Trump’s escalating anger, feels like a time capsule of those years—when truth was a battleground, and Trump was always ready to swing.
The clip’s spread has been relentless. By May 1, 2025, Yahoo News reported it had been shared across platforms, embedded in articles, and dissected on morning shows. The Daily Beast noted its resonance with viewers who see it as a snapshot of Trump’s leadership style: unyielding, combative, and allergic to correction. Even the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling on García’s case has resurfaced in discussions, tying the clip to real-world consequences of Trump’s rhetoric.
As of May 3, 2025, the video continues to surge, with no sign of slowing.