Vera Bergengruen, national-security reporter at the Wall Street Journal, joins to discuss Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, his plans for his country, and his relationship with Trump. Bergengruen profiled Bukele for Time last year. Plus, the U.S. may abandon its support to Ukraine, Luigi Mangione was indicted on federal charges, a gunman killed two people on the campus of Florida State University, the latest from Gaza, and things other than eggs you can dye this Easter. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
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Hey there, it's Shamita. I've got a quick request for you. If Apple News Today is an essential part of your morning routine, follow the show in Apple Podcasts. And if you have another 30 seconds, leave us a rating and a review too. It helps other people find our show and it helps us know what you like about it. Thanks. Good morning. It's Friday, April 18th. I'm Shamita Basu.
This is Apple News Today. On today's show, how the Salvadoran president found an ally in President Trump, a federal indictment in the UnitedHealthcare CEO killing, and why some people are painting potatoes for Easter.
Let's start with the big story all this week, which has been Trump's defiance of a Supreme Court order to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father of three kids living in Maryland with no criminal record, who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador's harshest prison. Yesterday, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, visited Abrego Garcia, who is his constituent.
He initially tried to visit him at the prison, but says he was denied entry. Hours later, Van Hollen was able to meet him at a nearby hotel and said he just wanted to confirm Abrego Garcia is doing OK and underscore that he deserves due process.
The man behind Abrego Garcia's detention, as well as the detention of hundreds of other migrants deported by the Trump administration, is El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, who's become a key ally of Trump's and has said that he'll take no action to release Abrego Garcia.
How can I return him to the United States? It's like I smuggle him into the United States or whatever. Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous.
For more about the rise of Bukele and how he became one of Trump's most crucial and supportive foreign allies, I called up Vera Bergen-Gruen, a national security reporter at The Wall Street Journal who profiled Bukele for Time last year. I started by asking her to give me some background on Bukele and how his relationship with Trump initially started.
The most important thing to know, I think, about him is that he has an advertising background. He comes from a wealthy family in El Salvador and his image has been all about rebranding. He wants to rebrand himself. He wants to rebrand his country. And when he was elected, he went about that by trying to change people's perception of El Salvador.
He wanted to move away from this dangerous country that was being completely overrun by gangs. Now, when you walk into the airport, it says, you know, the land of surf, volcanoes and coffee.
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