WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to deport informants protected by Washington to El Salvador in exchange for access to one of the country’s most notorious prisons, according to a report.

The Washington Post said Rubio made the offer during a March 13 phone call with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as part of a deal to allow the Trump administration to use El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) for deported migrants.

Citing current and former US and Salvadoran officials, the newspaper reported that Bukele demanded the return of nine imprisoned MS-13 gang leaders — including several “informants” that were under the protection of the US government — in exchange for the arrangement.

Rubio allegedly assured Bukele that Attorney General Pam Bondi would terminate Justice Department protection agreements with those informants so they could be sent back.

The move, officials told the Post, threatened to undermine years of work by US investigators who relied on gang members’ cooperation.

“The deal is a deep betrayal of US law enforcement, whose agents risked their lives to apprehend the gang members,” Douglas Farah, a US contractor who worked with federal officials to investigate the gang, was quoted as saying.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott defended Rubio’s actions, saying his diplomacy helped deport hundreds of gang members and made Americans “safer,” while El Salvador’s government did not respond to requests for comment, according to the report.