President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to send American citizens to foreign prisons on Monday, telling El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele that he wanted to send “homegrown criminals” to his country next, according to a video posted by Bukele’s office on X.
The comments came as Trump welcomed Bukele, a key partner in his migrant deportations, to the White House amid controversy over the Supreme Court’s ruling that the administration should “facilitate” the return of a Maryland migrant who was wrongfully deported to a notorious Salvadoran mega-prison.
Before reporters were allowed into the Oval Office, Trump discussed his proposal to send what he called “criminals” from the United States accused of violent crimes to El Salvador, telling Bukele that more prisons needed to be built.
“Homegrown criminals next,” Trump said in a livestream broadcast by Bukele’s office. “I said homegrowns would come next. “You need to build about five more places.”
Bukele was heard saying “alright,” and the others in the room laughed.
“It’s not big enough,” Trump explained.
Trump and other White House officials have repeatedly floated the idea of deporting American citizens to El Salvador and other countries, which legal experts have deemed unconstitutional.
On Monday, during a press conference, Trump stated that his team was “studying” the situation.
“If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem,” he said. “We are currently studying the laws, and Pam [Bondi] is studying. If we can do it, that’s great.”
“And I am talking about violent people. I’m talking about extremely bad people. Really bad people. “Every bit as bad as the ones coming in,” he added.
Bukele first offered to house violent US criminals shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
When Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Bukele’s proposal in early February, he described it as “an extraordinary act of friendship.” Rubio did, however, acknowledge that such a move would raise constitutional concerns, stating that there are “obviously legalities involved.”
On Monday, Bukele stated that he was “very eager to help” the Trump administration.
“In fact, Mr. President, you have 350 million to liberate. You are aware that in order to liberate 350 million people, some must be imprisoned,” Bukele stated.
