National Security and Transnational Gangs

At the National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 5, 2026, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele told U.S. lawmakers and business leaders that his country’s gangs have 'literally' worshiped Satan and that 'some of those gangs are here in the United States.' Bukele said security forces found satanic altars and ritual materials when raiding gang members’ homes, and complained major media ignored that evidence even after his government posted photos and video. A close Trump ally, he used the appearance to tout El Salvador’s mass‑incarceration approach—claiming the former 'murder capital of the world' is now the safest country in the Americas—and to reinforce a hard‑line migration and crime narrative as Trump pushes his own mass‑deportation agenda. The speech comes after Bukele agreed in 2025 to take hundreds of Venezuelan gang members removed from the U.S. into El Salvador’s super‑max prison, a model applauded by Trump but criticized by human‑rights groups. President Trump also addressed the breakfast, emphasizing that Americans’ rights come from God, not government, and attacking unnamed politicians who avoid saying the word 'God,' using the religious forum to underline his administration’s focus on religious‑liberty rhetoric.