El Salvador’s President Issues the Ultimate Challenge to Trump

Bukele dropped a line so good, President Trump asked if he could steal it.

El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, visited President Trump on Monday, but by the way the conversation went, it became obvious he wasn’t just there for a photo op.

He came with a message—and he delivered it directly to President Trump.

“You have 350 million people to liberate,” he said as a challenge, looking Trump in the eye.

This wasn’t just talk. Bukele said it while pointing to how he turned things around in his country, El Salvador.

“We turned the murder capital of the world—that’s what the journalists called it—into the safest country in the western hemisphere,” he said.

Some critics have focused on the mass arrests his administration carried out, but Bukele reframed it, saying, “Sometimes they say we imprisoned thousands. I like to say we liberated millions.”

Trump couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s very good! Who gave him that line? Do you think I can use that?” he asked.

Bukele kept going, getting to the heart of the issue.

“To liberate 350 million people, you have to imprison some. That’s the way it works, right? You can’t just free the criminals and think crime’s going to go down magically. You have to imprison them—so you can liberate 350 million Americans asking for the end of crime and the end of terrorism.”

This interaction set the stage for a conversation between two leaders who see public safety as non-negotiable.

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Later, Trump laid out what he sees as the consequences of the Biden administration’s border policies. Speaking alongside Bukele, he didn’t sugarcoat it.

“We had a terrible thing happen,” he began. “We had an administration that allowed people to come in freely into our country from not only South America, but from all over the world—many from the Congo, in Africa, Asia, all over the world, Europe, rough parts of Europe.”

“They came from prisons,” Trump continued, “and they came from mental institutions, and they came from gangs—the gangs of Venezuela and other places—and hundreds of thousands and even millions of them came.”

According to Trump, the total number reached 21 million—and a “tremendous percentage” were criminals.

“We had 11,088 known murderers, half of them murdered more than one person,” he said.

And he placed the blame squarely on Biden’s leadership, saying, “This was allowed by a man who—what he did to our country is just unbelievable.”

But Trump said that’s already starting to change.

“So we’re straightening it out. We’re getting them out. But what they did—and what that party did—to our country: open borders, anybody could come in.”

“As soon as I heard that, I said, every prison is going to be emptied out into our country. That’s what happened,” Trump explained.

One moment stood out that caught the media off guard.

Standing next to Trump, Bukele praised the dramatic drop in illegal border crossings.

“Actually, what you’re doing with the border is remarkable. It has dropped, what, 95%? It’s incredible.”

Trump jumped in with the latest data: “As of this morning, 99%, 99.1%, to be exact.”

Then Bukele asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Why are those numbers not in the media?”

Trump turned toward the press and said:

“Well, they get out, but the fake news, you know, like CNN, CNN over here doesn’t want to put them out because they don’t like—they don’t like putting out good numbers—because I think they hate our country. Actually.”

He shook his head.

“But it’s a shame. You’re right. Isn’t that a great question? Why doesn’t the media, why don’t they put out numbers?”

“Yeah! 99%? I mean, it’s crazy, right? It’s a crazy turnaround!” Bukele replied.

Even Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem weighed in, calling it a model of leadership. “You know, it’s just been absolutely phenomenal what a great leader can do,” she said.

She credited Bukele’s cooperation and a clear sense of direction.

“Clear direction. Our laws matter. We should only have people in our country that love us… Now we just need to get the criminals and murderers and rapists and dangerous gang members and terrorist organizations out of our country.”

Turning to Bukele, she added:

“Mr. President Bukele, we thank you very much for your partnership… It has been wonderful for us to be able to have somewhere to send the worst of the worst and someone to partner with.”

But the media pushed back.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins raised the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a known MS-13 member who was deported during the Trump administration. The network called it a “mistake.”

Trump handed the question over to Stephen Miller—who immediately fired back.

“There’s an illegal alien from El Salvador. So with respect to you, he’s a citizen of El Salvador,” Miller said. “So it’s very arrogant, even for American media to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens.”

He explained that two immigration courts found the man was a member of MS-13. And once Trump officially declared MS-13 a foreign terrorist organization, deportation was legally required.

“He had a deportation order that was valid,” Miller explained. “A district court judge tried to tell the administration they had to kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here.”

“The Supreme Court said the district court order was unlawful,” Miller continued, “unanimously stating clearly that neither Secretary of State nor the president could be compelled by anybody to forcibly retrieve a citizen of El Salvador… a member of MS-13.”

Trump jumped in, asking: “What was the ruling the Supreme Court, Steve? Was it nine to nothing?”

“Yes, it was a 9-0, in our favor,” Miller confirmed before droping this closer:

“That is the president of El Salvador. Your questions about, per the court, can only be directed to him.”

So Kaitlan Collins did exactly that. She turned to Bukele and asked:

“Do you plan to return him?”

Bukele didn’t hesitate and replied, “Well, I suppose you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States, right? How can I smuggle? How can I return him to the United States? Like I smuggle him into the United States? Or what do I do? Of course I’m not going to do it.”

He called out the framing directly, adding, “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist to the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.”

“I mean, we’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country,” Bukele continued before dropping a line that made Collins look foolish.

“We just turned the murder capital of the world into the safest country of the western hemisphere, and you want us to go back into releasing criminals so we can go back to being the murder capital of the world? That’s—that’s not going to happen,” Bukele shot back.

And just like that, the media narrative fell apart—right in front of the cameras.

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