El Salvador President Nayib Bukele visited Donald Trump on Monday at the White House.
President Bukele is allowing Donald Trump to deport gang members and convicted killers to El Salvador.
But Donald Trump could not stop smiling when El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele put CNN on notice about mass deportations.
Donald Trump formally invited El Salvador President Nayib Bukele to the White House on Monday for an official working visit to discuss joint efforts to combat illegal immigration.
Since the beginning of March, Donald Trump has deported hundreds of illegal aliens affiliated with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua terrorist organization and MS-13 gang to El Salvador, where they are being held at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
The CECOT is a “mega-prison” that was built in 2023 to house the country’s most dangerous gang members.
According to the newspaper La Prensa Grafica, El Salvador has received 22 deportation flights of illegal aliens.
“With the assistance of friends like you, we have made great progress in protecting Americans from illegal border activity,” Trump wrote in his invitation to Bukele. “Also of great importance to our partnership is your willingness to use El Salvador’s new supermax prison for Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gang members,” Trump continued. “You have shown real leadership and are a model for others seeking to work with the United States.”
During his visit to the United States on Monday, Bukele told Trump, “We’re very happy, and we’re very eager to help.”
The two met in the Oval Office along with several other Trump Cabinet officials and members of the press.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Bukele if he planned to return suspected MS-13 member and El Salvadoran national, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to the United States.
Democrats claim Abrego was wrongfully deported.
But Bukele torched Collins with a response that had Donald Trump grinning from ear to ear.
“I suppose you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States, right?” Bukele said.
Trump chimed in with “it’s always CNN.”
“The question is preposterous,” Bukele said to Collins. “How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?”
“I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” he added.
.@nayibbukele: “The question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States.” pic.twitter.com/PyrXqO4bvJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 14, 2025
“They’d love to have a criminal, you know, released into our country,” Trump said while gesturing to reporters. “These are sick people.”
After Marco Rubio also torched Collins, she continued to ask the same question to Bukele, Trump, and his Cabinet officials.
“How long do we have to answer this question from you?” Trump asked. “Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country?’” He continued. “Why can’t you just say that?”
“Why do you go over and over – and that’s why nobody watches you anymore,” Trump told Collins. “You know, you have no credibility.”
Donald Trump and President Bukele dropped the hammer on Fake News Kaitlan Collins.
