This article has been updated.
This is the Trump effect, baby!
However, within hours of Trump issuing a retaliatory threat to Colombia President Gustavo Petro, his stance changed.
Petro backed down from Trump and said he would offer to send a presidential plane to repatriate deportees from the U.S. to avoid Trump's sanctions threat.
Original post:
President Donald Trump is retaliating against Colombia after the country rejected U.S. deportation flights carrying illegal immigrants. In a sharp retaliation, the Trump administration has announced a series of measures to pressure Colombia to comply, including suspending certain diplomatic and trade arrangements. The move escalates tensions between the two nations, with Trump making it clear that refusing to cooperate on immigration enforcement will have serious consequences.
This weekend, socialist President Gustavo Petro denied entry to two flights from the U.S. carrying deportees from entering the country. Trump said that the denial of the flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.
“I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
As a result, Trump has immediately issued “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures.” This includes:
- An emergency 25 percent tariff on all goods entering the United States. The 25 percent tariffs will be raised in one week to 50 percent.
- A travel ban and immediate visa revocations for Colombian government officials, allies, and supporters.
- Visa Sanctions on all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government.
- Enhanced Customs and Border Protection Inspections of all Colombian Nationals and Cargo on national security grounds.
- IEEPA Treasury, Banking, and Financial Sanctions to be fully imposed.
“These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States! Trump wrote.
Petro said he rejected the deportation flights because the deportees were being transported in military aircraft, saying that such a move treated illegal immigrants as criminals.
“The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them,” he wrote on social media.
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