SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that El Salvador’s offer to accept and jail violent American criminals raises clear legal issues but described it as “very generous” and said that President Donald Trump would make a decision on whether to accept it.

President Bukele, who labels himself as the "coolest dictator" and a "philosopher king," has built election success and immense popularity on an extreme security policy to combat gang violence in El Salvador, incarcerating large quantities of alleged gang members and securing a massive drop in homicides.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip to Latin America represented a classic exercise of big stick diplomacy, threatening weaker nations in the region with US imperialist diktats.