US President Donald Trump held President Naive Buquere, El Salvador, at the White House on April 14th, excluded Bitcoin from the public agenda for negotiations centered on trade and immigration.
The pressing issue of migration and bilateral security cooperation set the tone of Bukere's first official meeting at the White House in Trump's second term.
According to a live stream shared by Bukkere's office on X, Trump has increased the likelihood of transferring US citizens convicted of crimes to prisons in El Salvador, urging Bukkere to expand the country's prison system and house more prisoners. “I said that homemade is then homemade. You need to build five more places.”
Source: Nayib Bukele
Since taking office, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of foreign criminals to El Salvador under a $6 million deal between the nations.
Trump also tackled the ongoing trade war unleashed by his administration on April 2, suggesting a potential temporary exemption for automakers aimed at mitigating supply chain transitions.
“I'm looking at something to use it to help some auto companies,” Trump told reporters at the meeting, adding that the US auto industry “needs a bit of time” to move production to the country.
The meeting did not address Digital Assets and Bitcoin (BTC) policy. This is the flagship initiative of both presidential administrations.
El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as its fiat currency in 2021, followed by Trump to develop a Bitcoin strategic protected area approach.
The US President established himself as a dictatorial candidate during the 2024 election. On March 6, Trump signed an executive order to prepare Bitcoin Strategy and digital asset stockpile for the United States.
The US has nearly 198,000 BTC, worth more than $17 billion as of March. The reserve is formed primarily of Bitcoin seized in criminal and civil cases. This includes a substantial amount of money from the Silk Road and Bitfinex Hack Cases.
Related: How much bitcoin does the US hold and where does it come from?
El Salvador's BTC plan faces opposition from the IMF
El Salvador signed a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December.
Salvadoran Congress revised the Bitcoin Act in January to comply with the transaction, but the government continues to make daily purchases of BTC. The country's National Bitcoin Office tracker currently holds 6,147.18 BTC, indicating it is worth around $520 million at the time of this writing.
Related: Tether will move its headquarters to El Salvador after securing the license
