Rep. Jamie Raskin issued a pointed warning to international leaders who have aligned themselves with President Trump on controversial policies such as deportations, stating that Democrats won’t forget their cooperation and will respond accordingly when they return to power.
Speaking specifically about El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Raskin (D-Md.), 62, implied that Democrats should take note of foreign leaders who cozy up to Trump during his second term. “Implicit in it should be the idea that if and when we come back to power — and we will — we are not going to look kindly upon people who … facilitated authoritarianism in our country,” Raskin said during an episode of “Pod Save America” that aired Saturday, hosted by Tommy Vietor.
Vietor had mentioned that a Latin America specialist recommended Democrats consider punitive measures against any foreign governments involved in the extraordinary rendition of U.S. citizens.
Trump has invoked powers under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expedite the deportation of suspected gang members, bypassing typical legal procedures, and transferring them to El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Though these deportations have so far involved individuals without legal status, Trump has hinted that he is reviewing the legality of deporting American citizens deemed dangerously violent to overseas detention facilities.
Raskin applauded the notion of confronting such international cooperation and urged lawmakers to consider pulling financial aid from El Salvador in light of its role in these deportations. “The whole idea that Bukele doesn’t have any power to return an American prisoner who was sent to him under an agreement where he’s getting paid $6 million by America is ridiculous,” Raskin said. “He’s our legal agent in this dubious arrangement they created. Of course, he’s got the power to return them.”
President Bukele recently visited the White House for a meeting with Trump, becoming the first Latin American leader to do so. When asked about the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S., Bukele called such questions “preposterous” and claimed he had no authority to reverse the deportation.
Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national, had illegally entered the U.S. in 2011. A 2019 court ruling blocked his deportation due to the threat of gang violence in his home country. Nonetheless, the Trump administration sent him back to El Salvador last month. Officials initially labeled the move an “error,” but later defended it, alleging connections between Abrego Garcia and MS-13—a claim his attorneys and family strongly dispute.
Raskin went on to say that Democrats must do more to build what he called “transnational Democrat solidarity,” aimed at combating what he described as the rise of global authoritarianism and political chaos. He stressed the need to push back against what he sees as Trump’s erosion of democratic norms.
As ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Raskin has been one of Trump’s most outspoken opponents in Congress. He previously played a key role in defending Hunter Biden during Republican-led investigations.
A former professor of constitutional law, Raskin argued, “We’re living in something like a gangster state right now.”
“We have to stop that, obviously, to prevent a slide into complete dictatorship,” he said, criticizing the administration’s use of foreign detention arrangements.
He then posed a rhetorical question, saying, “Donald Trump is a convicted criminal. Could he be sent off to a foreign prison?”
Raskin concluded by calling for a sweeping grassroots movement to fight back against what he sees as America’s drift toward fascism. “We’ve got to become the leaders of a nationwide popular movement to arrest the descent into fascism in America,” he said, before pivoting to criticize tech moguls like Elon Musk and their supporters in Silicon Valley.
“These people really believe that democracy is defunct. They say we live in a constitutional America,” Raskin remarked with evident frustration.

{Matzav.com}