WASHINGTON

The White House said Monday that it did not defy a judge's written court order when it deported over 200 migrants to El Salvador, but said there were some "questions" over the validity of a verbal order issued by the judge.

Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the Department of Homeland Security carried out what she called a "counter terrorism operation" when it flew the migrants out of the country on Saturday to be imprisoned in El Salvador.

US District Judge James Boasberg issued a restraining order hours after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a motion challenging the administration’s effort to expel the individuals, temporarily barring officials from carrying out any deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Lawyers at that point informed Boasberg that the planes were already in the air at which point Boasberg verbally ordered that they be turned around.

Leavitt maintained that "all of the planes that were subject to the judge's written order took off before the order was entered in the courtroom on Saturday, and the administration will, of course, be happily answering all of those questions that the judge poses in court later today."

"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," she added.

The majority of the people who were deported are alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal gang that President Donald Trump designated as a foreign terrorist organization in January.

Leavitt said "nearly 200" people are affiliated with that gang, though Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on X Sunday that the flight included 238 members of the Tren de Aragua gang, as well as 23 members of the Salvadoran street gang MS-13.

The discrepancy could not be immediately rectified as the Trump administration has so far refused to identify the individuals by name due to what Leavitt described as "privacy concerns at this point in time."

The US paid El Salvador some $6 million to imprison the individuals, according to the White House.

Bukele on Saturday appeared to mock the judge's order, posting a screen shot of an article about it on X.

"Oopsie… Too late" he wrote, accompanied by a laughing face emoji.

Steven Cheung, the White House's communications director, reposted Bukele with a gif from the 2001 crime thriller Training Day in which the lead antagonist, played by Denzel Washington, smiles and says "Boom!"

The administration’s attorneys will appear in court later Monday for an additional hearing on Saturday’s events.