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🌊 The Palestinian Who Became Trump’s New Ally
The full story of CECOT and the “world’s coolest dictator”
“I love the people of El Salvador and they have one hell of a President” – President Trump
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By Max Frost and Barratt Dewey
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Trump the “best friend” that Israel has ever had, it may actually be a Palestinian who is benefiting most from his presidency: After all, that man – El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele – has not just become a MAGA icon but has leveraged his popularity to create a multi-million-dollar business for his country.
In today’s deep-dive, we tell the story of how.
Bukele was born in 1981 in San Salvador, El Salvador 's capital. He was the second generation of Bukele born there, after his Palestinian Christian grandparents emigrated from Jerusalem in the early 1900s.
Bukele’s father, Armando, became one of El Salvador’s most successful businessmen: A convert to Islam who opened four mosques in the overwhelmingly Christian country, Armando owned the country’s first McDonald’s, a textile company, and a public relations firm.
It was in that last company that Armando’s son, Nayib, would blossom.
Nayib was one of 10 children, born alongside three brothers and six half-siblings (Armando was a polygamist with six wives). Despite coming of age when El Salvador was engulfed in civil war, Nayib enjoyed a privileged upbringing. He became the president of his senior class before dropping out of college to manage a nightclub and help run the family PR business.
Bukele’s father and his PR firm had close ties with the FMLN, a popular left-wing party. Bukele worked closely with the FMLN, learning which messages resonated with the Salvadoran people. In 2012, he used those learnings to make his first foray into politics, running for mayor with the FMLN in a city near the capital. While he won by less than 2%, the margin was big enough to open a door that would let him remake his country.
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Editor’s Note
Thank you for reading. Very curious to hear your thoughts on this one, particularly from any Salvadoran readers. Is Bukele a dictator? Or was it silly to talk about “democracy” when people were scared to go outside? Let us know by replying to this email.
As always, in case you missed any of our past stories, you can find them here:
And some of the many reader replies to yesterday’s story on Trump’s ability to fire Jerome Powell.
Kishan from Atlanta wrote:
Trump thinks he is better positioned to set interest rate policy than the Fed Board of Governors. Think about that: Trump – who has clear private and political conflicts of interest – wants to be the one to set interest rates across the economy (and effectively the world). Nevermind that he has the world’s top economic and financial minds (appointed by a bipartisan group of presidents, including himself!) tasked with doing this. I don’t doubt that he would be able to find a way to get Powell out, if he seriously wanted. And if he does that….Lord have mercy.
Mathias from Boston wrote:
The Fed is like the courts: They are unelected, unaccountable officials who make mistakes and bad decisions, and then whenever a politician like Trump tries to hold them to account, he becomes a dictator. Remember, these people WERE NOT ELECTED. Trump and Congress were.
All of that being said, there is a clear financial and economic dilemma here: Even if the Fed is doing a bad job with interest rate policy, the market consequences of Trump firing Fed officials will be even worse.
In short, I’d say that we should stop treating these people as holier-than-thou, but for practical – not moral – reasons, Trump should not try to get rid of them.
Paul from Delaware wrote:
I believe Trump is purposely manipulating the market for his, and his allies’, personal gains. He has no intention of firing the fed chair. Just as he has no real tariff plan. These are all just ways to swing the market. Please note the use of the word ally and not friend. There is no evidence that Trump has any friends. Everything in his world is transactional. Even his marriage.
That’s all for today. Happy Friday!
–Max and Max