By ASTRID SU REZ, ZEKE MILLER, and REGINA GARCIA CANO, Associated Press
Colombia’s BOGOTA (AP) Hours after President Donald Trump threatened to impose severe import tariffs and other punishment on the longstanding U.S. ally, the White House declared victory in a battle with Colombia on Sunday over receiving flights of deported migrants from the United States.
The United States and Colombia, longtime allies in the fight against drugs, battled Sunday over the deportation of migrants and put tariffs on each other’s goods as a warning to other nations about the consequences of interfering with the Trump administration’s campaign on illegal immigration. The incident was presented by the White House as a warning to other countries that could try to thwart his intentions.
President Gustavo Petro’s decision to turn away two Colombia-bound U.S. military planes carrying migrants after Petro accused Trump of not treating immigrants with dignity during deportation prompted the U.S. president to impose visa restrictions, 25% tariffs on all incoming Colombian goods, which would be increased to 50% in a week, and other retaliatory measures. Additionally, Petro declared that Colombian duties on American imports would rise by 25% in retaliation.
According to Trump, the actions were required because Petro’s choice to obstruct the deportation planes endangered American national security.
Trump stated on his social media platform Truth Social that these actions are only the first step. Regarding the reception and repatriation of the criminals they coerced into the United States, we will not permit the Colombian government to disregard its legal duties.
In a statement released late Sunday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Colombian government has accepted all of President Trump’s demands, including the unconditional and prompt acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia who have returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft.
The tariff orders will remain in reserve and not be signed, according to Leavitt. However, Leavitt stated that until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is properly returned, Trump would continue to restrict visas for Colombian officials and increase customs checks of Colombian imports.
Late on Sunday, the Colombian government declared that it had moved past the Trump administration incident, and Petro reposted the White House statement on X.
“The stalemate with the U.S. government has been resolved,” Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo declared. Colombians who return as deportees will continue to be welcomed, and we will ensure that they have respectable living conditions as citizens with rights.
The South American nation’s presidential plane is available to help return migrants who were scheduled to arrive on U.S. military aircraft hours earlier, Murillo noted.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared earlier on Sunday that he was approving the ban on visas for Colombian government officials and their families who interfered with U.S. repatriation flight operations. They were enforced in addition to the State Department’s decision to halt visa processing at the American Embassy in Bogota, the capital of Colombia.
Petro had previously stated that unless the Trump administration establishes a procedure that treats them with respect, his government will not allow aircraft that carry migrants who have been deported from the United States. Petro announced the news in two X posts, one of which featured a news video showing migrants who were allegedly deported to Brazil strolling on a tarmac while wearing hand and foot cuffs.
According to Petro, a migrant is not a criminal and ought to be treated with the respect that all people are entitled to. I returned the American military aircraft that were transporting migrants from Colombia for this reason. We shall meet our fellow citizens in private aircraft, without being treated like criminals.
In a post on X following Trump’s earlier tariff threat, Petro stated that he had directed the foreign trade minister to increase U.S. import duties by 25%.
Colombia has long been the United States’ most important Latin American friend. However, since Petro, a former rebel, was elected Colombia’s first Marxist president in 2022 and moved to distance himself from the United States, their relationship has been tense.
According to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that monitors flight data, Colombia took in 475 deportation flights from the United States between 2020 and 2024, ranking fifth after Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and El Salvador. In 2024, it took in 124 deportation flights.
Among the nations that started to accept U.S.-funded deportation flights from Panama last year is Colombia.
A request for comment from The Associated Press about aircraft and procedures used in deportations to Colombia was not immediately answered by the U.S. authorities.
A senior administration official told AP, “This is a clear message we are sending that countries have an obligation to accept repatriation flights.” Since the official was not permitted to address the matter in public, they talked on condition of anonymity.
According to Rubio’s statement, Petro revoked his permission for the flights while the planes were in the air.
Thanks in part to a visa system that makes it simple for them to travel to Mexico and avoid walking through the dangerous Darien Gap, Colombians have become a significant presence on the U.S. border with Mexico in recent years. After Mexicans, Guatemalans, and Venezuelans, they came in fourth place with 127,604 arrests for unlawful crossings over a 12-month period ending in September.
Colombians are exempt from Mexico’s visa limitations, unlike Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, and Peruvians.
In a subsequent announcement, Petro’s government declared that the presidential plane of the South American nation had been made available to ensure the dignified return of migrants who were scheduled to arrive aboard U.S. military aircraft hours earlier.
His administration is deploying active-duty military personnel to assist with border security and deportation efforts as part of a rush to fulfill Trump’s campaign pledges to tighten down on illegal immigration.
Early Friday, two U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes that were transporting migrants who had been deported from the United States landed in Guatemala. Two deportation planes carrying 193 individuals arrived in Honduras on the same day.
Despite the fact that the United States’ reliance on foreign oil has decreased due to increasing domestic production, Colombia remains the fourth-largest supplier of crude oil to the United States, shipping over 209,000 barrels per day last year. The nation in South America is also the biggest provider of fresh cut flowers to the United States.
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Zeke Miller reported from Washington, while Regina Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. This report was written by Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Joshua Goodman in Miami, and Jill Colvin in New York.