‘These measures are just the beginning,’ Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
President Donald Trump said on Jan. 26 that he is imposing retaliatory measures against Colombia after it turned away two military flights deporting illegal immigrants from the United States.
Trump suggested that Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s actions threaten U.S. national security, and he is directing his administration to impose emergency 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Colombia, which will rise to 50 percent in seven days.
Trump also wrote that he will issue a travel ban and immediate visa revocations on Colombian government officials “and all allies and supporters,” adding that visa sanctions on all members on party members, supporters, and family members of Colombian government officials will also be applied.
Other penalties announced by Trump include enhanced U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo on “national security grounds,” along with various other banking and financial sanctions.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “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!”
Hours before, Petro confirmed on social media platform X on Sunday that he blocked military flights from the United States that were carrying deported Colombian nationals.
“The U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro wrote in a post, according to a translation from Spanish. “I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory. The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
In a separate post, Petro said that his administration turned away U.S. flights with Colombian nationals on board.
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” he wrote on X. “That’s why I turned back the US military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants.”
Trump, also critical of Petro’s comments, confirmed that two repatriation flights coming from the United States with illegal immigrants with criminal records weren’t allowed to land in the Latin American country.
“This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” he also wrote. “Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.”
The Trump administration has also sent four deportation flights to Mexico, according to a statement from the White House on X. The Mexican government accepted those flights, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted, despite reports that the country had blocked a plane.
The flights set a new record for deportations to the nation in a single day, according to Leavitt.
Before taking office, Trump had warned both Mexico and Canada that his administration may impose a 25 percent tariff on goods being sent to the United States, respectively, if either country does not move on securing borders with the United States, ending illegal immigration, and stopping the trafficking of drugs such as fentanyl.
Trump also floated a 10 percent additional tariff on China if the Chinese regime does not curb the production of fentanyl precursors.
Reuters contributed to this report.