El Salvador sends up to 2,000 troops to Haiti after Bukele says Trump approved the surge

Summary

El Salvador is deploying thousands of troops to Haiti to help push back gangs and find four Salvadoran military personnel who went missing in a recent ambush, and Haiti's government has agreed to the deployment. Axios reports that President Nayib Bukele called President Trump on Tuesday to confirm Trump had no objection, and that Trump told him "Do what you have to do," according to sources briefed on the call. El Salvador announced on Wednesday that it was sending as many as 2,000 troops, and sources say that number could double or triple. The New York Times reports that more than 2,000 Salvadoran troops were dispatched this week in an extraordinary deployment on foreign soil. Four Salvadoran aviation technicians were ambushed on October 18 and remain unaccounted for, according to the Miami Herald, as cited by Axios. Gang violence in Haiti has killed more than 5,700 people this year. Axios also reports that security contractor Erik Prince, an ally of Trump and Bukele, is operating in Haiti and may be a test case for public-private proxies for U.S. security interests in the hemisphere.

Timeline

1. Axios

   30 Oct 2026, 09:25 UTCSource ↗

   Axios reports that Bukele called Trump on Tuesday, that Trump told him "Do what you have to do" according to sources briefed on the call, and that El Salvador announced on Wednesday it was deploying as many as 2,000 troops to Haiti.

2. The New York Times

   30 Oct 2026, 19:22 UTCSource ↗

   The New York Times reports that the Salvadoran government dispatched more than 2,000 troops to Haiti this week in an extraordinary deployment on foreign soil.