US President Donald Trump has invited Salvadoran counterpart Nayib Bukele to the White House, according to a social media post by the Central American leader.

Bukele has enthusiastically supported the Trump administration’s expulsion of prisoners to El Salvador, winning the admiration of the US president by accepting deportees to be held in his country’s CECOT mega jail complex.

“I would like to invite you to join me at the White House on April 14, 2025,” read a screenshot of a letter from Trump that Bukele posted on X on Wednesday.

“Your support of my efforts to combat illegal immigration is greatly appreciated,” Trump wrote.

The Republican also said he wished to talk about how El Salvador and the United States could “support each other”.

And Trump said Bukele’s willingness to jail US deportees, who the US president called “gang members,” was “of great importance to our partnership.”

Since coming to power in 2019, Bukele has subdued his once gang-plagued nation of about six million people.

Dispensing with warrants and due process, he jailed almost two percent of the population and brought the murder rate down from more than 6,500 a year to just 114, according to official figures.

Bukele’s dramatic videos showing chained and tattooed men roughly escorted off planes have earned praise from Trump.

Despite the close relationship between the two leaders, El Salvador was not spared a 10 percent tariff slapped on its exports to the United States by the Trump administration on Wednesday.