Trump said he would only go through with the idea if his administration determined it was legal. It was not clear what level of due process an American would receive before being deported.
“We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters,” Trump said.
“I’d like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you’ll have to be looking at the laws on that.”
Trump told reporters last week that he “loved” the idea of deporting citizens to El Salvador, after Bukele said the country was open to housing US prisoners.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that the proposal was on the table, saying Trump had “simply floated” the idea.
