Trump's Claims About El Salvador and President Bukele Debunked
Former U.S. President Donald Trump stated that El Salvador’s 70% drop in murders was due to criminals being sent to the U.S. However, PBS fact-checked and found this claim false, attributing the decline to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s anti-crime measures. El Salvador’s prison population has surged, contradicting Trump’s statement. Notable bitcoin proponents like Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert have publicly refuted Trump’s claim.
Trump on El Salvador’s Crime Drop
Former U.S. President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed during his speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday that El Salvador’s significant decrease in murders was because the country had sent its criminals to the U.S.
“In El Salvador, murders are down 70%. Why are they down? Now, he would have you convinced that because he’s trained murderers to be wonderful people. No. They’re down because they’re sending their murderers to the United States of America. This is going to be very bad, and bad things are going to happen,” Trump said.
PBS fact-checked the former U.S. president’s claim and concluded it was false. The reduction in homicides, recorded by El Salvador’s National Police, is attributed to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s stringent anti-crime measures. The public broadcaster stated:
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has aggressively cracked down on crime. There is no evidence that Bukele’s effort involves sending prisoners to the U.S.
“El Salvador has been under a state of emergency, because of gang violence and high crime rates, since March 2022. On July 10, the Legislative Assembly voted to extend its use,” PBS noted.
Trump asserted that Salvadoran President Bukele is “sending all of his criminals, his drug dealers, his people that are in jails” to the United States. PBS reported that El Salvador’s prison population has drastically increased in recent years, according to Insight Crime, a think tank focused on crime and security in the Americas. In 2020, El Salvador’s prison population was about 37,000, and by 2023, it had risen to more than 105,000, approximately 1.7% of the country’s population.
Following Trump’s speech, Bukele shared on X: “Taking the high road.”
El Salvador and its President Bukele have gained popularity among bitcoin supporters, as the country was the first to adopt BTC as legal tender. El Salvador is also engaged in daily bitcoin purchases, bitcoin mining, and various bitcoin initiatives.
Bitcoin proponent Max Keiser, who assists El Salvador with various bitcoin initiatives, commented on Trump’s speech on X, saying: “Trump is wrong.” His wife, Stacy Herbert, the Director of the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador, opined:
Trump needs to fire his speech writer.
Castle Island Ventures’ Nic Carter commented: “Trump is just wrong on this, no shame in admitting that. What Bukele did definitely stemmed the flow of MS13 into the U.S.”
Meanwhile, Trump has pledged to be the “crypto president,” vowing to end Joe Biden’s anti-crypto policies, support bitcoin mining, and prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). He stated: “If we don’t do it, China is going to pick it up, and China’s going to have it — or somebody else, but most likely China.”
What do you think about Trump’s claims regarding El Salvador and President Nayib Bukele? Let us know in the comments section below. #Write2Earn
