Donald Trump didn't seem to realize he was on camera when he told the president of El Salvador to make more prisons, this time for Americans.
"Home-growns are next," Trump told Nayib Bukele, who visited him in the Oval Office today.
"You gotta build about five more places," Trump added, before describing the El Salvador prison now housing the Venezuelans he deported (without due process) as "not big enough." (See video below, posted by Aaron Ruapr.)
"The homegrowns are next."
Those are the chilling words uttered by President Donald Trump to El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele surreptitiously captured in a casual Oval Office conversation before the White House pool entered.
Aaron Rupar captured and published a rough video conversation on social media. The Atlantic's Jonathan Lemire shared the video, providing context: "Before pool entered, this exchange was captured on the El Salvador government's live stream. Trump endorses sending 'homegrown' U.S. prisoners to El Salvador—meaning American citizens to notorious foreign prisons."
This follows similar comments Trump made yesterday, when he told reporters on Air Force One that "we have some horrible criminals, American grown, born," which he's "all for" shipping off to El Salvador, according to The Washington Post. And yes, experts agree that this would not be legal, but in Trump 2.0, that is a moot point.
Previously: Trump unable to source his Venezuelan crime stats
