For years, El Salvador was known as the murder capital of the world. As a country where violent gangs held neighborhoods in fear, killings were a grim part of daily life.
That violent history is at the center of FRONTLINE’s documentary “The Deal: Trump, Bukele & the Gangs of El Salvador,” which examines the political alliance between President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
The film explores how Bukele, who built his global reputation on crushing gang violence, has now become a key partner in Trump’s immigration crackdown by offering El Salvador’s massive CECOT prison as a destination for U.S. deportees.
Produced with the Salvadoran news outlet El Faro, the documentary argues that the arrangement is about more than migration enforcement. For Trump, it supports his hardline immigration agenda by providing a high-capacity prison system willing to take deportees.
But the documentary also suggests Bukele has his own political interest in the deal. Drawing on years of investigative reporting, it revisits allegations that his government secretly negotiated with gang leaders before later turning to mass arrests when that arrangement collapsed. According to the film and the briefing material, Bukele may also benefit by keeping gang figures in Salvadoran custody rather than allowing them to testify in U.S. courts about alleged past dealings.
Bukele’s supporters point to one undeniable fact: violence in El Salvador has dropped dramatically, and his anti-gang crackdown remains highly popular at home. More than 91,500 people have been detained under the country’s ongoing state of exception, which Bukele says was necessary to dismantle gang power.
Critics counter that the gains have come at a steep price, citing arbitrary arrests, weakened due process and growing pressure on journalists and civil society.
Guests:
Juan Ravell is the director of FRONTLINE’s The Deal: Trump, Bukele & the Gangs of El Salvador.
Jeff Arak the producer of FRONTLINE’s The Deal: Trump, Bukele & the Gangs of El Salvador.
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This interview will be recorded live Tuesday, April 22, 2026, at 12:00 p.m.
