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Colombia has accepted flights of deported migrants from the U.S. hours after President Donald Trump threatened to foment a trade war.
“The Government of Colombia 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,” the White House said Sunday.
Trump had earlier fired back at Colombia with “emergency 25 percent tariffs” and a number of “decisive retaliatory measures” after President Gustavo Petro blocked two repatriation flights from landing. The U.S. president warned of a travel ban and that visa revocations would be imposed on Colombian government officials as well as “all allies and supporters”.
It comes after Petro said in a series of posts on X that Colombia would not accept military deportation flights from the U.S. until the Trump White House sets up a process to treat Colombian migrants with “dignity and respect”.
“I do not authorize the entry of North American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” Petro said on X. “The U.S. must establish a protocol of dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
Even Republicans are questioning Trump’s ‘illegal’ midnight purge of inspector generals
Congressional Democrats were quick to slam the firings, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying that the action came in the “dark of night” and that it was a “chilling” indication of what the next four years would look like.
Read more:
AOC warned of surging coffee prices before Trump U-turn on Colombia threats
ICYMI: Trump says he wants to ‘clean out’ Gaza
President Donald Trump said he would like to see Gaza “just cleaned out,” allowing a clean slate for the war-torn region on the back of the ceasefire deal.
Trump called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting. His hope is they take enough to allow the area to start anew.
Trump has built his political career around being unapologetically pro-Israel. On his larger vision for Gaza, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he had a call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.
Alex Lang, Zeke Miller and Will Weissert have the full story.
Putin-Trump meet still unorganized as Kremlin awaits ‘signals’ from US
The Kremlin said it had not yet received any “signals” from the US about a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, after the leaders said last week they were ready to make contact.
“So far, we have not received any signals from the Americans. The readiness remains. The same readiness, as we have heard, remains on the American side,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters on Monday.
‘Trump is cool now’: Bill Maher eviscerates Democrats for allowing Trump’s popularity rise
Comedian Bill Maher slammed Democrats for allowing President Donald Trump’s popularity to rise following his first week in office.
“Here’s how bad the Democrats f***** up: Trump is cool now,” Maher said on Real Time with Bill Maher. “He’s not just the most powerful guy in the world and just made himself like the richest, he’s actually kind of [cool] at 78!”
Maher pointed to rappers and athletes sharing their liking of the new president. Nelly, Rick Ross, and Snoop Dogg all performed at inaugural events, in addition to the Village People.
“I mean, rappers like him, the athletes are doing…” Maher added as he gestured Trump’s well-known rally dance.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Trump shares yet another messianic message about his presidential election win
Colombian president wants to have a whisky with teetotal Trump
After slamming Donald Trump’s forceful approach to policy, and more generally, Americana, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said he hopes to one day sit down with the U.S. president over a glass of whiskey.
But there’s a catch: Donald Trump is teetotal.
Prior to reversing course and agreeing to accept two military planes of migrants being repatriated from the U.S .– and doing so, avoiding hefty 25 percent tariffs on Colombian goods imported to the U.S. – Petro wrote a scathing social media post about Trump’s attitude towards Bogota.
“I don’t like your oil, Trump, you’re going to wipe out the human species because of greed. Maybe one day, over a glass of whiskey, which I accept, despite my gastritis, we can talk frankly about this, but it’s difficult because you consider me an inferior race and I’m not, nor is any Colombian,” Petro wrote on X in a post translated by Google.
“So if you know someone who is stubborn, that’s me, period. You can try to carry out a coup with your economic strength and your arrogance, like they did with Allende. But I will die in my law, I resisted torture and I resist you.”
ICYMI: Colombia agrees to accept deportation flights after Trump’s tarriff threats
‘F**k around, find out’: Trump fired warning shots at Colombia with AI meme
Prior to Colombia agreeing to accept two military planes of migrants from the US on Sunday, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself with a sign reading “FAFO” (f**k around, find out) on Truth Social.
The post came after Trump had threatened to impose “emergency 25 percent tariffs” and a number of “decisive retaliatory measures” on the nation after President Gustavo Petro blocked two repatriation flights from landing.
Watch: Immigration officers raid Colorado night club as Trump’s deportation plan gathers pace
Immigration officers raid Colorado nightclub as Trump’s deportation plan gathers pace
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted an immigration raid at a Colorado nightclub outside Denver in the early hours of Sunday, 26 January, as Donald Trump’s promised ramped-up deportation action took effect. DEA Rocky Mountain said they and local partners conducted an operation targeting “drug trafficking and members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA)” in which “drugs, weapons, and cash were seized in Adams County.” Fifty people were taken into custody. Since the Republican took office last week, similar immigration enforcement operations have been publicized around the country, which US Immigration and Customs Enforcement says are ongoing.
