The United States White House has claimed victory in a showdown with Colombia. The US and Colombia have long been close partners in anti-narcotics efforts but clashed Sunday over the deportation of migrants and imposed tariffs on each other’s goods.
In several social media posts, both countries’ presidents defended their views on migration.
Trump – on his social media platform Truth Social – said that two Colombia-bound US military aircraft carrying migrants had been blocked from landing by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, an action Trump said jeopardised US national security and public safety.
The US president ordered visa restrictions, 25 per cent tariffs on all Colombian incoming goods, which would be raised to 50 per cent in one week, and other retaliatory measures.
Petro justified his decision, saying migrants are not criminals and should be treated with dignity.
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“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he was authorising the visa restrictions on Colombian government officials and their families “who were responsible for the interference of US repatriation flight operations”.
This restriction is on top of the State Department’s move to suspend the processing of visas at the US embassy in Colombia’s capital, Bogota.
The restrictions will continue, Rubio said, “until Colombia meets its obligations to accept the return of its own citizens”.
Earlier in the day, Petro said his government would not accept flights carrying migrants deported from the US until the Trump administration creates a protocol that treats them with “dignity”. Petro made the announcement in two X posts, one of which included a news video of migrants reportedly deported to Brazil walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet.
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Petro said. “That is why I returned the US military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants … In civilian planes, without being treated like criminals, we will receive our fellow citizens.”
After Trump’s announcement, Petro said in a post on X that he had ordered the “foreign trade minister to raise import tariffs from the US by 25%”.
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Colombia has traditionally been the US’ top ally in Latin America. However, their relationship has strained since Petro, a former guerilla fighter, became Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022 and sought distance from the US.
Colombia accepted 475 deportation flights from the US from 2020 to 2024, fifth behind Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks flight data. It accepted 124 deportation flights in 2024.
Colombia is also among the countries that began accepting US-funded deportation flights from Panama last year.
As part of a flurry of actions to make good on Trump’s campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration, his government is using active-duty military to help secure the border and carry out deportations.
Two US Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants removed from the US touched down early Friday in Guatemala. That same day, Honduras received two deportation flights carrying a total of 193 people.
Announcing “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump explained that he ordered the tariffs and “A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations” on Colombian government officials, allies and supporters.
“All Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government,” Trump wrote, will be subject to “Visa Sanctions”.
Trump added that all Colombians will face enhanced customs inspections. He did not say to which party he was referring or provide any additional details on the visa and travel restrictions.
