Trump Applauds El Salvador After Shocking Video Shows Deported Gang Members Arriving in Central America
Former President Donald Trump publicly thanked El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele after a dramatic video surfaced showing hundreds of suspected migrant criminals landing in the Central American nation following deportation from the U.S.
Trump took to social media to express his gratitude, referencing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used law that allows for the removal of citizens from enemy nations without a court hearing.
“Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget,” Trump wrote.
The former president didn’t hold back, describing the deported individuals as “monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats.”
According to a senior Trump administration official speaking to Fox News, a total of 261 illegal migrants were deported to El Salvador in a single day. The breakdown is staggering:
- 137 individuals were expelled under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798
- 101 Venezuelans were deported under Title 8
- 21 known MS-13 gang members and
- 2 high-profile MS-13 ringleaders, classified as “special cases”
The list of charges tied to those deported includes kidnapping, child sexual abuse, aggravated assault, robbery, prostitution, and assault on law enforcement officers.
As legal tensions rise, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the deportations, but according to officials, the planes had already left U.S. airspace by the time the ruling was issued.
“We did not defy a court order. The order came too late, and the illegals were already in international airspace,” the official said, as first reported by Axios.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt backed the statement, telling Fox News the court’s ruling “had no lawful basis” and was issued after terrorist-linked migrants had already been removed from U.S. territory.