Honduras Votes in Close Election After Trump Wades In

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras—Hondurans cast ballots in a presidential election that was thrown into disarray in its final days after President Trump endorsed one candidate and promised to pardon a former Honduran president serving a prison sentence in the U.S. for turning the Central American nation into a narco-state.

The election was expected to be close even before Trump’s actions injected more uncertainty into the process. Long lines formed around some polling stations on Sunday. Aside from a new president, more than six million voters will elect 128 legislators and cast ballots for hundreds of other posts.

This is the second time in recent months that Trump has inserted himself into national elections across Latin America. In October, Trump conditioned an economic rescue package for Argentina to President Javier Milei party’s victory in midterm elections. Argentines, fearing an economic implosion, voted overwhelmingly for the country’s ruling party. The outcome isn’t clear in Honduras, an impoverished nation that relies heavily on U.S.-bound migrants.

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Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere and has long been plagued by endemic corruption, gang violence and unemployment. In recent years, undocumented Hondurans have been at the forefront of the U.S.-bound migration wave from Central America.

Hondurans working in the U.S. have sent some $10 billion in remittances so far this year, more than the whole of 2024, according to government data. The Trump administration has deported close to 30,000 Hondurans in 2025, on track to double the number of deportations in 2024. When Trump on Wednesday endorsed Asfura, he conditioned U.S. aid to Asfura winning the poll. Asfura has a reputation as a can-do executive who built roads and bridges during his time as mayor.

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