Twitter wants El Chapo released so he can 'take care of' Donald Trump

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Mexican drug lord Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman are as unlikely a pair of buddies as most people can imagine.

And yet, the allegedly sparring billionaires have more in common than the number of figures in their estimated net worth ($4.5 billion US and $1 billion US respectively).

Trump and Guzman share a knack for inspiring headlines, rumours and speculation, both on their own, and even more so together.

This week, following Mexico's recapture of the fugitive cartel boss and Rolling Stone's publication of an interview Guzman gave to actor Sean Penn, Twitter users once again have El Chapo top of mind — and they're wondering how his rumoured "feud" with Trump will play out now that he's back in custody.

'Who's going to stop Trump now?'

Twitter has been fascinated by the relationship between Trump and Guzman since at least July, when the presidential hopeful mentioned Guzman — who had just escaped prison for the second time — in tweets containing (more) derogatory remarks about Mexico.

An unverified and since-deleted Twitter account that was reported to have been run by Guzman's son responded to Trump with profanity and threats against his life.

While Guzman's lawyer later said in a court filing that the Twitter threats were "fabricated," Trump's team was apparently shaken enough to have contacted the FBI about them.

"We have officials all over the place, including right outside hanging out in trees," said Trump to reporters at a press event in Virginia just two days after receiving the tweets. "Law enforcement is working very hard right now on the situation here."

Cuban-American rapper Pitbull added further fuel to the fire by telling Trump to "watch out for El Chapo" while on stage at a Univision award show in July.

In October, Latin American news network teleSUR reported that Guzman had placed a $100-million US bounty on Trump's head.

The report was picked up by several American and British news outlets, and while it was never close to being confirmed, it still gave people plenty to talk and speculate about.

Joking or not, many on Twitter seemed to like the idea of Guzman putting an end to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

When the drug kingpin was recaptured again late last week by Mexican marines, those hopes appear to have been dashed.

'Ah! Mi amigo!'

Did actor Sean Penn — as in Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High — finally manage to squash the beef between Trump and Guzman?

Probably not, but the rare interview he conducted with El Chapo last fall gave the web some interesting Trump-related tidbits when it went live on Saturday. 

"I am reminded of press accounts alleging a hundred-million-dollar bounty the man across from me is said to have put on Donald Trump's life," wrote Penn in his piece. "I mention Trump. El Chapo smiles, ironically saying, 'Ah! Mi amigo!'"

The article does not make mention of the Republican presidential candidate again.

Many, including Penn himself, suggested that Guzman was being ironic when referring to Trump as his friend.

Others have been more inclined to use their imaginations, suggesting that perhaps Trump and Guzman really are secret amigos.

Trump has not yet explicitly responded to Guzman's comments about their relationship.   

He did, however, say it was "sort of amazing" that Penn was able to interview an escaped convict who, at that point, was still evading authorities.

"It was sort of amazing the way he got in there and all of the people that are looking for him couldn't find him and here's a guy sitting down with a rather long interview," Trump said of Penn. "So I don't know, I guess we have bigger problems in this country, but I guess it is a little amazing that he was able to get an interview with a guy that everybody else was looking for, right?"