Bukele Wows the Crowd — and Trump — at the National Prayer Breakfast

"...including one of my favorite people, President Bukele of El Salvador. He has been so incredible, such a great ally of this country..." Trump said of him. 

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump gives massive shoutout to El Salvador President NAYIB BUKELE at the prayer breakfast

Bukele is AWESOME! 🇺🇸🇸🇻

"One of my FAVORITE people, President Bukele of El Salvador! He has been so incredible. He has been such a great ally of this country!" 🔥… pic.twitter.com/ygBCrza5rP

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 5, 2026

But if you've been paying attention to Bukele — his familial past, his personal past, his country's past, and the present — you may understand exactly why the president of the Central American country once dubbed the "murder capital of the world" was there to speak. 

We all know the story. Bukele, who is serving his second term, cleaned up El Salvador by conquering its gang problem and prioritizing the safety of regular citizens over criminals and gang members. He's taken a lot of heat for his tough-on-crime approach, from some international groups and leftist politicians in the United States, but inside his country, he has a massive approval rating. 

As a matter of fact, a Salvadoran opposition newspaper came out recently and admitted that they ran a poll and found that his approval rating is 91.9%. The only other places where newspapers claim leaders are this well-liked are Russia and North Korea, and let's just say those numbers aren't organic. El Salvador's are. 

Bukele, whose personal faith has evolved a bit over the years, has maintained from day one that it was not him but God who led to El Salvador's about face, going from the murder capital to one of the safest countries in the Western Hemisphere. 

On March 27, 2022, Bukele, who had campaigned on ending gang violence, felt that his country had reached its tipping point. Over the weekend, 87 people were murdered in 72 hours. In a 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson, he said in that moment, he felt like he was up against an "impossible task," and he and his cabinet members prayed. They prayed for wisdom, to win the war against these gangs, and to keep the number of civilian casualties low as they began mass arrests. 

Bukele has also pointed out numerous times in the past that these gangs, particularly MS-13, were practicing satanic rituals, and that what his government did became "spiritual warfare." He brought that up at the breakfast on Thursday: 

Many people don't know that our enemy was not just of flesh and blood, but is spiritual as well. The gangs didn't just murder, rape, extort, they also worshiped Satan.  Straight up, literally. When we went to their homes to arrest them, we discovered altars they'd been using for satanic rituals. This is well documented. We put up the pictures, the videos, right away. But for some reason, the global mainstream media didn't think it was worth it to cover it.

The global MSM may not cover it much, but I have. Last April, I did some research and found countless stories from crimes committed by MS-13 members here in the United States that had an element of satanism to them. You can read about those here: MS-13 and Satanism. 

I also heard Bukele tell a story once about a guy in prison in El Salvador who had murdered many people, but he finally left the gang when "the beast" became involved:  

They, they asked him, 'How many people have you killed?' And he said, 'I don't remember.' He didn't remember how many. Probably 10, 20. He didn't remember. And then they asked him, 'What is your position in the gang?' He explained how he went up in positions, but, 'I left the gang.' They said, 'Why do you left the gang?' He said, 'Well, because, I was used to kill people, but I killed for territory, I killed to collect money, I killed for extortion.

But I came to this house and they were about to kill a baby.  And he, the killer, that had killed tens of people said, 'Oh, wait, wait, what are we doing? Why we gonna kill that baby?' And they told him, 'Because the beast asked for a baby, so we have to give him a baby.' So he said that he couldn't resist that, so he left the gang. He's in prison because, you know, he's a killer, but he left the gang because he couldn't tolerate what he was seeing.

Bukele's theme for his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast was that leaders, when they pray, should not ask God for riches but for wisdom to lead their people. "If God did this for El Salvador, He can do it for countries all over the world. But we must first ask for wisdom," he said. 

He compared it to Solomon in the Bible. God came to the king in a dream and asked him what he wanted. "Solomon asked for wisdom so he could serve his people well," Bukele said, later adding, "I believe this passage is timeless. Leaders shouldn't ask God for riches, fame, or material possessions. Leaders should ask Him for wisdom." 

Bukele's personal faith has been the subject of much talk over the years. He has a unique background. His paternal grandparents were Christian Palestinians who immigrated to El Salvador in the 1920s. His maternal grandparents were Catholic and Greek Orthodox. In the 1980s, his late father converted to Islam, which led to accusations that Bukele himself was Muslim when he initially ran for president. 

He has said that this exposure to so many unique faiths has taught him tolerance and respect, and while he doesn't subscribe to any particular brand of Christianity, he considers himself a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

"I believe that no one is saved in groups, but salvation is obtained individually," he wrote in 2019. "That's why I've accepted Jesus Christ, that's why I read the word of God written in the Bible when I feel confused or need guidance, that's why I ask Yahweh for the wisdom he gave Solomon, even though I know I'll never be as wise. That's why I believe deeply in God and his kingdom..."

As his presidency has evolved through the years, it seems as if his faith has grown stronger, and he's speaking out about it more and more. 

Related: The Real Reasons Why Latin America Is Moving to the Right

Earlier this week, I wrote about how the number one reason why Latin America is taking a rightward swing is that people are sick of cartels, gangs, extortion, murder, drug trafficking, etc. They saw what Bukele did for El Salvador and they want the same things for their own countries. I mentioned this, but Peru, for example, will hold elections in a couple of months, and a reader wrote in and told me there are more Bukele posters around than those for the actual candidates. Chile's new president-elect has been in El Salvador recently, touring the country's CECOT prison. Costa Rica is currently building its own mega-prison, following Bukele's model.  

Bukele has become a beacon for security in the region, and what he has done to save the people of his country seems almost miraculous. But perhaps it's just proof that when leaders put God first and act decisively, the impossible can become a reality.  

You can watch his entire speech from the National Prayer Breakfast here: