Trump to nominate Kristi Noem’s second-in-command as ambassador to El Salvador, according to CBS News

Washington.- United States President Donald Trump plans to designate the Under Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Troy Edgar, second in command to Kristi Noem, as the new ambassador to El Salvador, according to several sources consulted by CBS News. According to the two sources cited by the American chain, the designation would not require a new Senate approval, so its arrival at the diplomatic legation could materialize soon, although a start date has not yet been set. The White House and DHS declined to comment on the possible designation, while officials consulted highlighted the good working relationship between Edgar and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. El Salvador has acquired a central role in the Trump Administration’s migration offensive. In March, the president invoked the Trading with the Enemy Act, a 19th-century war statute, to send detained migrants to a maximum-security prison in that country, many of them accused by Washington of links to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, despite the fact that several had no criminal records.

A report by human rights organizations published in November concluded that the deportation and treatment of more than 200 Venezuelans held in El Salvador constituted arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearance under international law. Edgar’s appointment would come at a time of rapprochement between Washington and San Salvador.

The Relationship Between Trump and Bukele

Troy Edgar is the current Undersecretary of DHS and one of the highest-ranking officials in the structure led by Kristi Noem. He was the CFO of that department during the final months of Trump’s first term (2017-2021), with responsibility for a budget of $90 billion and the oversight of migration projects and the border wall. He also served as a private sector executive and Mayor of Los Alamitos (California) from 2009 to 2010, from 2012 to 2014, and from 2018 to 2019. In addition, he has been a key figure in the administrative management of DHS and in the implementation of the White House’s security and immigration priorities. In April, Trump met with the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, whom conservative American sectors praise for his offensive against gangs. Furthermore, last month both nations reached a framework for reciprocal trade agreements, in parallel with new migratory operations aimed at cities with large immigrant communities.