El Salvador Prez Nayib Bukele’s apparent dig at Europe ahead of Trump meeting, Musk reacts

Bukele has agreed to accept migrants deported from the United States. They will be kept in Salvadoran prisons. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the two countries are ‘working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations, and build a future of Prosperity’. The 78-year-old further added that the future of deported migrants ‘is up to President B and his Government. They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!’

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However, just before landing in the US on Saturday, President Bukele posted a photo of an uncapped bottle on X, platform formerly known as Twitter, “It’s real. This ain’t a drill!” he wrote in the caption.

Musk responded to the tweet with a laughing emoji. The post seems to be an apparent dig at the European Union, which has been in a trade war with President Trump since he announced his ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariffs.

Why is the uncapped bottle post a dig at Europe?

Some social media users speculated that Nayib Bukele’s X post showing an empty water bottle is a subtle dig at Europe due to the EU’s 2019 Single-Use Plastics Directive, which mandated tethered bottle caps starting July 2024 to reduce plastic waste. The ‘uncapped’ bottle—likely referring to a non-tethered cap—could be seen as mocking this regulation.

Only earlier this week, the Trump administration elevated El Salvador’s travel safety designation to the best possible, putting it above countries in Western Europe.

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Back in 2024, Bukele had slammed Europe, saying the continent is ‘no longer free and is declining’.

“You can’t claim the title free world if your people are not even free to walk down the streets,” he had said.

On Saturday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump and Bukele ‘will discuss El Salvador’s partnership on using their supermax prison for Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gang members and how El Salvador’s cooperation with the United States has become a model for others to work with this administration’.