In a major diplomatic breakthrough Sunday night, the White House announced that Colombia has agreed to comply with President Donald Trump’s demands to accept its citizens who are in the U.S. illegally, avoiding the crippling sanctions and tariffs that had been drafted and prepared for immediate implementation. It’s a sharp reversal for Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who earlier in the day had defiantly declared his country would refuse to cooperate with Trump’s deportation efforts.
However, it seems Petro underestimated who he was dealing with. The Trump administration’s tough-as-nails approach left Colombia little room to maneuver, and by the end of the day, Petro appeared to have waved the white flag. In fact, Petro even retweeted the White House’s statement announcing the agreement—a symbolic gesture that underscores just how decisively Trump has won this round.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt broke the news in a statement late Sunday evening, laying out the terms of the agreement in no uncertain terms. “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,” Leavitt said. She noted that the sanctions and tariffs prepared under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) would remain on standby, ready to be enacted if Colombia reneges on the deal.
The president of Colombia has retweeted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s post. https://t.co/EY6xeUkMja pic.twitter.com/4ANu3y0JiV
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 27, 2025
But the victory isn’t without a caveat. While the administration has agreed to pause tariffs and financial sanctions, other measures, including visa sanctions against Colombian officials and enhanced customs inspections on Colombian nationals and cargo, will remain in effect until the first plane carrying Colombian deportees successfully lands back on Colombian soil. Trump’s message is clear: compliance will be rewarded, but any hint of resistance will meet swift and severe consequences.
The deal follows a tense day of escalating threats and countermeasures. Trump’s administration moved with lightning speed, drafting tariffs and sanctions within hours of Petro’s defiant remarks, making it clear that the U.S. would not tolerate obstruction of its immigration enforcement efforts. The president’s decisive response marks a stark departure from the tepid diplomacy seen under Joe Biden, whose leadership, or lack thereof, emboldened foreign leaders to flout U.S. policies without consequence.
To fully understand just how remarkable today’s exchange with Colombia was, you need to understand how Washington DC has traditionally worked through these sorts of issues, and the different way it works now under Trump.
I’ll illustrate.
Traditional Approach:
1. Colombia…
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) January 26, 2025
For Colombia, the stakes couldn’t have been higher. Trump’s proposed tariffs would have hit Colombian exports like coffee and fresh produce, cutting off vital revenue streams. Additionally, financial sanctions would have further destabilized the South American nation’s fragile economy. Faced with these realities, Petro had little choice but to back down. It’s a wake-up call for any foreign leader who might underestimate Trump’s resolve to put America first.
This episode also highlights Trump’s fundamentally different approach to wielding America’s economic and diplomatic power. Where Biden’s administration often appeared indecisive and reactive, Trump’s team has shown that it is willing to use every tool at its disposal to advance U.S. interests. By bringing Colombia to heel without firing a single shot or deploying troops, Trump demonstrated that strength and clarity of purpose can be far more effective than drawn-out negotiations or hollow rhetoric.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 26, 2025
Critics will no doubt attempt to spin this as heavy-handed or unnecessarily confrontational, but the facts tell a different story. For too long, foreign governments have treated immigration enforcement as an optional request rather than a sovereign demand. Under Biden, countries like Colombia faced little to no consequence for refusing to accept deportees. But Trump’s victory here sends an unmistakable signal: those days are over.
While this agreement marks a clear win for the Trump administration, it’s also a reminder of how dramatically things have changed in the White House. Under Biden, foreign leaders often dictated terms to the U.S., secure in the knowledge that they would face little pushback. But as this episode shows, Trump has brought back a level of decisiveness and authority that hasn’t been seen in Washington in years.
