Trump Open to Deporting American Criminals to El Salvador–But Only If It’s Legal, White House Says

“It’s a legal question that the president is looking into,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington on April 15, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump would consider deporting American citizens convicted repeatedly of violent crimes to prisons outside the country if it were legally allowed, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.

“It’s a legal question that the president is looking into,” Leavitt said at the press briefing. “He talked about this yesterday with his meeting with [Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele] in the Oval Office. He would only consider this, if legal, for Americans who are the most violent, egregious repeat offenders of crime who nobody in this room wants living in their communities.”