WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has invited the leader of El Salvador — a key partner in his deportation efforts — to the White House later this month, according to the Salvadoran president.

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump has invited the leader of El Salvador – a key partner in his deportation efforts – to the White House for a "working visit" on April 14, according to the Salvadoran president
  • In a letter addressed to Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele, which he posted on X late Wednesday night, Trump expressed gratitude for the support from his counterpart in El Salvador for combating illegal immigration in the U.S.
  • Bukele, who has been in power in El Salvador since 2019 and is known for his crackdown on gangs in the Latin American country, has been a key player in the Trump administration’s controversial effort to use a 1798 wartime authority to deport hundreds of migrants from the U.S. it says are affiliated with a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua

In a letter addressed to Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele, which he posted on X late Wednesday night, Trump expressed gratitude for the support from his counterpart in El Salvador for combating illegal immigration in the U.S.

“With the assistance of friends like you, we have made great progress in protecting Americans from illegal border activity,” Trump wrote. 

The president went on to specifically thank Bukele for his willingness to use El Salvador’s notoriously large and violent “supermax” prison — which has some of the country’s most hardened criminals on its grounds — to house alleged gang members deported from the U.S. 

“You have shown real leadership and are a model for others seeking to work with the United States,” he told Bukele. 

Trump then invited Bukele to travel to the White House on April 14 for an “official working visit.” 

Bukele, who has been in power in El Salvador since 2019 and is known for his crackdown on gangs in the Latin American country, has been a key player in the Trump administration’s controversial effort to use an 18th-century wartime authority to deport hundreds of migrants from the U.S. that it says are affiliated with a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.

The Salvadoran leader has touted his role in the deportation campaign, posting a video on X last month of migrants arriving to his country from the U.S. in what was the first high-profile group to be sent to El Salvador using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. It came after a federal judge directed the Trump administration to halt such efforts, setting off a brutal legal battle over the president’s use of the authority — which had been invoked three other times in history and only during times of war — and sparked questions about whether he disobeyed a court order. 

In a post Monday, Bukele highlighted a “joint military operation” with the U.S. to send another 17 “extremely dangerous criminals linked to Tren de Aragua and MS-13” from America to El Salvador. 

The announcement of Trump’s invitation comes just days after his administration admitted in a court filing that it mistakenly sent a Maryland man to the mega prison last month.  

The president has called for the judge handling the case to be impeached. Another hearing in the case is set for Thursday afternoon.