Colombian President Loses Game of Chicken with Trump, Offers to Fly Back Illegals on His Own Plane 6 Minutes Later
President Donald Trump is not the man to play a game of chicken with.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro learned that lesson Sunday in short order after choosing to test the newly re-elected U.S. leader’s resolve.
It all began when, as part of the Trump administration’s expansive deportation effort, two flights of criminal Colombian nationals illegally residing in the U.S. were scheduled to fly back to their native country.
Petro refused to accept the criminals, or even allow the planes to land on Colombian soil.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro said, according to a Google translation of a statement posted to X Sunday.
“I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory.
The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
Only minutes later, President Trump released a statement of his own on Truth Social announcing the U.S. would levy aggressive and costly sanctions against the South American country in retaliation.
“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. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” Trump wrote.
“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…”
Trump’s planned sanctions included a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian goods coming into the U.S., with the percentage rising to 50 percent after one week; a travel ban for all Colombian government officials; and various additional sanctions.
It didn’t take long for Petro to respond.
In a statement published on X a mere six minutes after Trump’s Truth Social post, Petro announced he would accept the Colombian criminals back.
Going a step further, Petro even offered to fly back the illegals on his own presidential plane to facilitate what he described as a “dignified return of Colombian nationals… coming in from separation flights,” according to The Hill.
“This measure is in response to the government’s commitment to guarantee dignified conditions,” Petro wrote.
“In no way have Colombians, as patriots and subjects of rights, been or will be banished from Colombian territory.”
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