President Trump was triumphant in getting Colombia to accept deportees from the United States late Sunday after the Colombian president railed against Mr. Trump’s tariff and visa restriction threats because of the rejection of migrant planes.
In a Sunday night statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Colombian government “has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”
She said Mr. Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs on all incoming Colombian goods, which would’ve been raised to 50% after a week, would be “held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement.”
However, the visa sanctions and enhanced customs inspections Mr. Trump said would be placed on Colombian officials, allies and goods would stay in place “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again,” she said. “President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States.”
There was no immediate statement put out by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
Mr. Petro attacked Mr. Trump and the United States Sunday in multiple X posts after Mr. Trump threatened sanctions, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures due to Mr. Petro’s refusal to accept two planes carrying deported migrants into the country.
Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday that the rejection of the two flights “has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety” of the U.S.
“These measures are just the beginning,” he said. “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.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said later Sunday that he was ordering a suspension of visa issuances at the U.S. Embassy Bogota consular sections. He also authorized travel sanctions “on individuals and their families, who were responsible for the interference of U.S. repatriation flight operations.”
Early in the morning Sunday Mr. Petro started this war with Mr. Trump by not accepting the flights, saying “the U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals.”
“The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them,” he said, adding in another post that “a migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves.”
He later said he would provide his presidential plane to bring the deportees from the U.S. to Colombia, saying this “measure responds to the government’s commitment to guarantee dignified conditions.”
After Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post, Mr. Petro said he ordered his “foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%.”
These planes to Colombia are just one part of Mr. Trump’s promise of mass deportations. Planes carrying deportees have also been sent to Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.