MEXICO CITY — Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador and self-proclaimed "world's coolest dictator," is set to visit President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. This marks a significant moment as Bukele becomes the first Latin American leader to receive an official invitation to the Oval Office since Trump assumed office. Bukele has emerged as one of Trump's most vital regional allies, particularly noted for his enthusiastic embrace of Trump's anti-immigration policies.
In recent weeks, with Bukele's backing, the Trump administration has deported and incarcerated hundreds of alleged gang members from Venezuela and El Salvador. The inaugural deportation flight to El Salvador was meticulously choreographed and recorded, with Bukele sharing a polished video on social media. Following that, additional deportation flights have continued, including one as recently as Sunday. However, these actions have raised significant concerns regarding transparency, due process, and allegations that many detainees do not have any gang affiliations.
Bukele first won the presidency in 2019, running a campaign focused on combating corruption. In 2022, he declared a state of emergency to address rampant gang violence and soaring homicide rates. Since then, Bukele's government has arrested approximately 85,000 individuals, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), yet only about 1,000 have been convicted of any crimes, leading to claims that many innocent people have been wrongfully imprisoned. Under Bukele's rule, El Salvador has been described as a new autocracy in the Americas, as noted by Noah Bullock, Executive Director of Cristosal, a Salvadoran human rights organization.
Despite facing widespread condemnation for human rights violations, Bukele's popularity has surged due to his success in reducing homicide rates in a country that previously held one of the highest murder rates globally. Homicides plummeted from over 2,000 in 2019 to just 114 last year. Recently, the U.S. State Department upgraded El Salvador's travel safety rating to Level 1, a distinction held by only a few Latin American countries. This upgrade was celebrated by Bukele, who actively promoted the news on his social media channels, stating that travelers should "exercise normal precautions" while in El Salvador.
Among Bukele's supporters are members of the MAGA Republicans. Notably, Donald Trump Jr. attended Bukele's second-term inauguration in June 2024, and the MAGA community rallied behind him during his address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. The Trump administration has established close diplomatic ties with El Salvador, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem both visiting the country early in their respective tenures. According to Ana María Méndez Dardón, Central America Director at the Washington Office on Latin America, El Salvador is uniquely positioned in Central America, showing a complete willingness to comply with U.S. demands.
This cooperation has included the controversial transfer of hundreds of Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants accused of gang affiliations to Bukele's notorious mega prison, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center or CECOT. This practice has invoked the rarely used 1798 Alien Enemies Act to target alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang. The deportations have faced intense scrutiny and condemnation, with HRW characterizing them as forced disappearances to a facility notorious for its abusive conditions.
During their upcoming meeting, Trump and Bukele are expected to discuss enhanced cooperation on various issues, including migration, tariffs, and the potential for detaining dangerous American criminals in El Salvador. Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, emphasized that these would be "heinous violent criminals" who have repeatedly violated U.S. laws. However, she acknowledged that the feasibility and legality of such policies are still under review.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court's response to Trump's El Salvador deportation strategy has been mixed. In an April ruling, the Court permitted further deportations under the 1798 law but mandated that deportees be granted due process. The Court also ordered the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father of three who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador despite having been granted protections by an immigration judge due to the potential for gang violence against him.
