In Trump’s World Bukele Will Always Win Over Zelenskyy
In the rush of news that is part of the communications strategy of the Trump administration, it is easy for extraordinary moments to be swept into the sorting bins of history in 24 hours or less. It is therefore important for us to return, to dive in, and inspect what has been left behind.
One such moment, worth further inspection, occurred two weeks ago in the Oval Office when President Trump and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, met and took questions from the news media. The moment had all the trappings of a routine photo opportunity for two heads of state, but what was actually captured by the cameras, as the world watched, was two bullies exerting their power and daring the rest of us to do something about it.
The relationship between the Trump administration and El Salvador has been at the center of the conversation in recent months, because Trump has been rounding up men described as un-documented immigrants and sending them to a prison built to hold terrorists in El Salvador. I use the phrase “described as un-documented immigrants,” because for the most part, that is the most we know about them.
While the Trump administration is describing the 230 to 300 men at issue as “the worst of the worst,” as rapists, murderers, and terrorists, we only have the word of the president to go on and going on the word of Trump and the people who have agreed to work for him has never been a good bet. Investigations by both CBS News and The New York Times published in the last two weeks show upwards of 75% of those men flown to El Salvador by the U.S. have no criminal records in either country.
If the law has been broken, it is more likely it has been violated by the Trump administration. The migrants appear to have been rounded up without court order, put on planes and flown to El Salvador without due process, held against their will, and since many of the men being held are Venezuelan, they have been deported to a third country not their own. These are some of the issues being raised in federal courts and the Trump administration is facing the possibility of contempt of court investigations in at least two jurisdictions. The case of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia is the matter getting the most attention from the news media, but his case will have ramifications for all the others being held in similar circumstances and for the administration’s deportation policies.
Abrego-Garcia is the man from Maryland who came to this country without documentation when he was 16 years old, he is married, he has three children, and seems to have been living a normal life here since his arrival. He has a job. He checks in regularly — as he is supposed to — with immigration authorities. He has no criminal record. He has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. He is living in Maryland under a court order that says he cannot be deported to El Salvador, because his life might be in danger there. Despite that court order, El Salvador is exactly where the Trump administration sent him and where he is believed to be held today, in that prison built to house terrorists. The violation of the protective order in the Abrego-Garcia case is another violation of the law by the Trump administration.
The administration has a different view. From the president on down, U.S. officials claim Abrego-Garcia is a member of the gang known as MS-13, that he is therefore a terrorist, and that he has been involved in human trafficking. These claims are made without evidence. Worse, the accusations are being made publicly by the president and his appointees, in a smear campaign originating from and with the full power of the White House behind it.
With that as background, President Bukele arrived at the White House two weeks ago to meet with President Trump and some of his top advisors. After a brief private meeting, Trump and Bukele moved into the Oval Office and summoned the press into the room to take pictures and ask a few questions. There as props, and to offer support, were members of the staff of both presidents. On the U.S. side that included: Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
What ensued was a cruel charade of character assassination and bullying at the highest level. Trump and Bukele relished in their ability to lie openly to the news media, the American people, and all the world about the status of Abrego-Garcia and the hundreds of other men being held without due process for who knows how long. Noem has suggested they should be held for the “rest of their lives,” but she has never offered any specifics that merit a life sentence in any specific case.
Bukele began by congratulating Trump for freeing millions of Americans, by detaining a few hundred. “To liberate 350 million people you have to imprison some. That’s the way it works,” Bukele said as Trump smiled and admired Bukele’s logic. It never occurred to Trump to defend the process he used to detain the men in question, he didn’t have to, because he is certain no one can stop him. Trump simply nodded and smiled and seemed to agree that the price of liberty for some is the abuse of the liberties of others.
Trump at first refused to take questions from a CNN reporter in the room, because he said, CNN “hates our country.” But it did fall to that same reporter to ask Trump if he would ask Bukele to release Abrego-Garcia and later to ask Bukele if he would release Abrego-Garcia on his own. For more than a half an hour the two presidents and the American advisors in the room deflected and lied about their policy and the use of the prison in El Salvador.
There is a particular feeling of helplessness that comes over someone when they know they are being lied to by someone who has a power advantage. In everyday terms, it is like speaking with a car mechanic who is telling you you need a new transmission, when you know — but can’t prove — that all you need is an oil change. It’s not that the mechanic is smarter than you, it’s that you are being kept in the dark and you have no way to prove him wrong. In this meeting Trump and Bukele had an information and power advantage and they were thoroughly enjoying that power. They were amused at how clever they could be.
Trump went around the room asking his appointees to explain why the most powerful man in the world, and the president of El Salvador, could not find a way to release a man the American government has admitted was deported by mistake.
Noem began by thanking President Trump for his leadership. She said we only want people in this country “who love us,” and she again called everyone sent by the U.S. to El Salvador, “criminals, murderers, rapists, gang members” and members of terrorist organizations. She offered no evidence to back up any of these claims, she simply used the power of the White House and the position she holds to make the public accusations. As un-American as it gets.
There is another fact to consider when deciphering the arguments being made by the Trump administration. Most, if not all the men shipped by this country to the prison in El Salvador were picked up on the streets of American cities. If they are truly rapists and murderers and terrorists why weren’t they in state or federal prisons awaiting trial or serving their sentences? Rape and murder are state crimes. Terrorism is generally a federal crime.
If a rape were committed by an un-documented immigrant in Wyoming, why would the U.S. government deny the state of Wyoming the opportunity to put that rapist on trial? If an un-documented immigrant killed someone in Maine, why would he not stand trial and serve a sentence in Maine? If someone is suspected of engaging in terrorist activity against the United States, why would they not be indicted and tried in federal court? The main argument being made by the Trump administration to deport people the administration describes as hardened criminals does not square with how the justice system in the U.S. works at the state and federal level.
When asked to add her thoughts, Attorney General Pam Bondi repeated the accusations against Abrego-Garcia. Accusations that have never been tested or proven in court and accusations that are beside the point since there is a superseding court order in place that should have prevented Abrego-Garcia from ever being sent to El Salvador, where a U.S. judge has determined his life is in danger.
(I have noticed that whenever Bondi speaks to the president she begins not with Mr. President, but “president.” It’s a minor point, but her failure to address Trump properly is one of those small details that shows she is out of her depth.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who knows better, argued that because immigration is a “foreign affairs” issue, the president has full power to do anything he wants and “no court” can conduct the foreign policy of the United States. Marco made this argument in front of the top law enforcement official in the land, but Bondi did not correct him. Immigration, the law school trained former U.S. Senator Rubio surely knows, is a matter of both foreign and domestic policy. More importantly, no president has the power to conduct foreign affairs in a manner that is in violation of the law. The courts are not conducting foreign policy by reviewing Trump’s immigration policies they are ensuring that Trump’s policies are consistent with the law. That is the job of the courts.
When asked directly what they would do to return Abrego-Garcia to the United States, both Trump and Bukele said it was out of their hands. Trump said it was a matter for El Salvador and Bukele asked insincerely, how it could be possible. “Do you want me to smuggle” a terrorist into your country? With that question Bukele again effectively accused Abrego-Garcia of being a terrorist and suggested the press was asking him to break the law to effectuate his return. Trump sat next to his guest admiring the false Hobson’s choice Bukele was describing. Trump’s smile was his acknowledgement that he was lying and in his view we — the American people — can do nothing about it.
At the 100 day mark of the second Trump administration there is conversation about whether the second term is different from the first. There is a difference. Trump is operating as if he has nothing to lose and as I have argued before it is easy to see why he thinks that is the case. He is a lame duck. If he can take the bad news, low approval numbers don’t matter much. He considers himself safe from impeachment and though Chief Justice John Roberts might quarrel with it, Trump interprets the Supreme Court ruling giving a president broad immunity for crimes committed while in office as a get out of jail free card.
During the Bukele meeting Trump floated the idea that he might consider sending U.S. citizens convicted of crimes to serve their sentences in El Salvador. He said we “want them out.” Trump assured the press that he would ask the attorney general to look into the legality of it all, but he said he liked the idea. He then asked Stephen Miller, who during the same press availability lied about a recent Supreme Court decision ordering Abrego-Garcia’s return, to “take a look at the laws” on that.
Neither Bondi, Yale Law School graduate J.D. Vance, or Rubio — the other lawyer in the room — took the opportunity to correct Miller on the law and offer an opinion on sending U.S. citizens out of the country to serve prison sentences.
The White House press corps has proven itself ill-equipped to handle the sophistry of the Trump administration. The failure may stem from the fear of being kicked out of the room, but the best way to handle the torrent of falsehoods coming from the administration is to challenge each lie in real time. To expose the fallacious arguments. To force the liars to lie even more in defense of their foundational lies until the weight of foolishness brings down the whole house. That is the only way for the press to win this battle for the truth, but to take this approach means the administration will probably use its power to push reporters who challenge them off the beat and few are willing to lose their access.
In 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to go along with an illegal scheme suggested by Trump for the Ukrainian government to launch a phony investigation into Joe Biden, in exchange for Trump releasing military aid to Ukraine that had been approved by Congress. Zelenskky said no. Zelenskyy did the right thing even though it was hard.
As a result, Trump has held a grudge against the Ukrainian president that has likely cost hundreds of Ukrainian lives on the battlefield with Russia. When Zelenskyy came to the White House in March, he was publicly humiliated by Trump, Vance and Rubio. He was asked why he didn’t respect the Oval Office by wearing a suit, by a reporter from a fringe news organization loyal to Trump. He was accused of being a dictator and of starting the war with Russia, even though the entire world watched Russia launch its invasion of Ukraine on live television. Seven years later, Zelenskky is still an un-wanted guest.
Bukele by comparison, was welcomed to the White House. He was not asked why he wasn’t wearing a tie. He was celebrated as a strong leader. He was not asked about human rights in his country, his commitment to the rule of law, or to describe or justify how inmates are treated at his famous prison for terrorists. He was welcomed, because like Trump, he has little use for — and outright disdain — for laws and rules if they get in his way. Trump has been caught violating U.S. laws and Bukele is helping to cover it up.
Zelenskky did the right thing and was punished. Bukele is Trump’s partner in crime. The difference in how the two men are treated tells us all we need to know about the character of the Trump White House.
