Colombia’s Gustavo Petro quickly backtracks after Trump threats over deportation flights
Colombian President Gustavo Petro offered his presidential plane to repatriate migrants coming back from the U.S. on Sunday in response to stern warnings made by President Donald Trump.
The move came after Trump hit the South American country with retaliatory measures in response to Petro’s refusal to accept deportation flights. A former member of the M-19, which was a Marxist guerrilla terrorist group that killed hundreds, Petro caved in to Trump’s demands with remarkable speed. Trump told Fox News Petro did a total about-face after his tariff threat.
In a statement translated from Spanish, the Colombian government said the plane will help facilitate a “dignified return.”
“The Government of Colombia, under the direction of President Gustavo Petro, has arranged the presidential plane to facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were going to arrive in the country today in the morning, coming from deportation flights,” the translated statement read.
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President Donald Trump issued stark warnings to Colombian President Gustavo Petro over the weekend. (Getty Images)
“This measure responds to the Government’s commitment to guarantee decent conditions.”
This weekend, American officials sent two flights of Colombian illegal aliens as part of Trump’s ongoing deportation program. Petro rejected the flights, writing that the U.S. cannot “treat Colombian migrants as criminals.”
“I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” Petro said. “The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
In response, Trump unleashed a slew of punishments, including ordering a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia.
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President Gustavo Petro speaks at the International Workers’ Day march in Bogota, Colombia, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people.”
“Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures.”
The tariff would rise to 50% after one week, Trump said. The president also ordered a travel ban and visa revocations for all Colombian government officials, plus “allies and supporters.”
“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 warned.
Later on Sunday, Petro issued a similar threat to Trump, claiming that he ordered his foreign trade minister “to raise tariffs on imports from the U.S. by 25%.”
“The ministry should help direct our exports to the whole world other than the US,” the translated post read. “Our exports should be expanded.”
Later, Petro published a lengthy rant where he raised the tariffs to 50%.
“I am informed that you impose a 50% tariff on the fruits of our human labor to enter the United States, and I do the same,” the translated X post said.
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Former President Trump headlines a Republican National Committee donor retreat, in Palm Beach, Florida, on May 4, 2024. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
Amid the back-and-forth between Petro and Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in on social media and warned that “Colombia and all nations should be on notice.”
“Congress is fully prepared to pass sanctions and other measures against those that do not fully cooperate or follow through on requirements to accept their citizens who are illegally in the United States,” Johnson wrote. “President Trump is putting America first, just like he said he would. And Congress will implement policies that reinforce his agenda.”
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
