The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, called the elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, to congratulate him on his “resounding victory”, and also to address other issues of regional interest such as US aid funds and the challenges to be faced in the region.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said Thursday that he spoke by phone with US President-elect Donald Trump, not only to congratulate him “on his resounding victory,” but also about “the importance of his election for the world.”
In your X accountBukele commented that the conversation also touched on “the bullet that almost killed him, the incredible people around him, the sometimes damaging effects of American aid funds, Soros-backed NGOs, and our shared commitment to addressing the challenges we have.” past”.
Bukele was one of the first leaders to congratulate Trump on his victory on Wednesday after the elections.
This is the second time that Bukele has sought to strengthen ties with Trump despite the fact that he disqualified the war against gangs in El Salvador during his campaign, and assured that insecurity in the Central American country decreased because the Salvadoran government sent criminals to the United States.
Following the results of the US elections, Bukele seeks to put this chapter aside and decides to approach Trump, to whom he offered to “address the challenges” in the region.
Bukele's first approach to Trump occurred during the Republican's first administration, in which the Salvadoran sought alliances with the United States and to avoid confrontation with conservative and anti-immigrant politics.
Then, Bukele visited Donald Trump at the White House and called him “ally and friend.”
Furthermore, in 2019, the Salvadoran president approached the Heritage Foundation, one of the main study centers of the most conservative sector in the United States, where he called China “interference” and distanced himself from Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Under this way of doing politics, Bukele also found alliances with tycoon Elon Muskwho gave his absolute support to Trump's campaign in the United States.
In September, Musk said that “El Salvador has an incredible leader.” A compliment to which Bukele responded: “it is a pleasure to spend several hours talking with one of the great minds of our time.”
Musk was one of the most important sponsors of the Trump campaign, and also very close to Bukele.
Cooperation funds
According to Bukele, two of the topics of conversation with Trump this Thursday were “the sometimes harmful effects of US aid funds” and “Soros-backed NGOs.”
There are several occasions in which the Salvadoran president has expressed that international cooperation finances journalism that seeks to “attack” him. Billionaire George Soros, a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist, is known for his support of liberal causes.
“The 'journalists' paid by Soros were ordered to attack with alleged cases of corruption,” Bukele said at the beginning of October of this year, after a journalistic investigation It reflected a rapid increase in the real estate of the president and his family.
His speech against the press usually includes these accusations, and alleged financing from foundations such as Open Society, Seattle Foundation and Human Rights Watch to media outlets independent of advertising.
It was for this reason that in 2021 Bukele confronted Joe Biden's administration, which he accused of supposedly “financing the opposition.”
The United States then accused him of attacking the independence of powers after the dismissal of the court judges and the attorney general.
Supported by great popular support, Bukele gradually received the approval of the United States until the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, congratulated Bukele on his re-election in February 2024.