Donald Trump has won a battle with Colombia after threatening a trade war when the country refused to accept deported migrants. The US president said he would retaliate with "urgent and decisive" measures - including 25% emergency tariffs on Colombian goods - after the country turned away two US military planes.
Onboard were migrants being deported from America as part of Mr Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown. But in a statement on Sunday, the White House said Colombia had backed down. "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 US military aircraft, without limitation or delay," it said.
The US leader previously said Colombian president Gustavo Petro's action "jeopardised the national security and public safety of the United States" in a statement on Truth Social. The initial response from the Colombian president was bullish. He threatened to respond with 50% tariffs on goods from the US, telling Mr Trump in a post on X: "Your blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world.".
Mr Trump posted a defiant message online: "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!". His post was quickly followed by an AI-generated image showing the president in a fedora hat, alongside a sign reading FAFO, which usually stands for "f*** around, find out".
