The White House has dug in on its refusal to return a man who US officials have acknowledged was wrongly deported last month from Maryland to an El Salvador mega-prison.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on accusations that Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García was a member of the MS-13 gang, which his lawyer denies.

Leavitt also accused the 29-year-old of domestic violence, citing records showing his US citizen wife once filed a protective order against him.

A Maryland judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to bring Mr Ábrego García back to the US. But El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said on a visit to the White House this week that he did not “have the power” to return him.