Donald Trump claims early victory for foreign policy

US: Donald Trump said on Sunday that Colombia had conceded in a disagreement over migrant return flights, marking an early triumph for a hard-power and tariff-based coercive foreign policy.

In his most overt move to date to exert control in the Western Hemisphere and to set an example for a country that had betrayed him, the president had already announced immediate and harsh retribution, including massive tariffs, on the US partner.

The huge deportation operation intended to fulfill one of Trump’s most prominent campaign pledges was derailed when Colombian President Gustavo Petro prevented US military planes transporting illegal migrants from landing, sparking the crisis.

The US president used the opportunity to show his followers his toughness and to remind other Latin American nations of the cost of opposing the return of migrants.

The White House said that Colombia has agreed to allow migrant flights, even on military planes, and that tariffs would be postponed until the agreement is implemented, after hours of tensions with Bogota.

In a statement released late Sunday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again.” “President Trump will continue to vigorously defend our country’s sovereignty, and he anticipates full cooperation from all nations in allowing the deportation of their citizens who are unlawfully in the United States.”

The return of US deportation planes was promptly acknowledged by Colombia’s foreign minister. Petro’s turnaround is an acknowledgement of Trump’s combative personal style and US dominance. Additionally, it will probably give administration officials more confidence to use tariff threats as a means of intimidating other countries, including longstanding US allies, on a wider range of topics rather than just as a conventional tactic in trade disputes.

However, the dispute with Colombia also served as a warning of the significant global disruption that Trump’s tough strategy would bring about. The US president has previously threatened to retake the Panama Canal, browbeaten Canada and Mexico over border disputes, and attempted to pressure Denmark into selling Greenland

Such strategies might damage US ties abroad and harden foreigners’ perceptions of Americans if they continue for four years. China, which is looking to expand its influence in Washington’s backyard, became aware of the Colombia disagreement very fast, highlighting the possible negative consequences for the US if Trump decides to engage in constant conflict that alienates important regional countries.

Trump is exercising authority everywhere

Trump used intimidation as a tool to impose his will on the United States domestically and drastically alter the country’s foreign policy trajectory. His triumph against Colombia marked the culmination of his first week in office.

For example, Trump’s new government began a nationwide deportation campaign in Chicago on Sunday, the most recent high-profile indication of his urgency.

The new multiagency approach to immigration enforcement is a “game-changer,” according to White House border czar Tom Homan, who spoke to CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez on Sunday.

The whole government was involved in today’s operation. He said, “President Trump has focused the entire government on this issue.” The raid on Sunday resulted in around 1,000 arrests, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This came after the new president dismissed over a dozen watchdog officials from important government institutions on Friday night, providing yet another startling illustration of his assertive executive power.

The purge is a component of Trump’s efforts to restructure the federal government in accordance with the conservative view that Republican presidents are usually thwarted by the federal bureaucracy when they seek to carry out political mandates.

However, Democrats are denouncing the action as an abuse of authority and an indication of Trump’s disregard for government ethics since the agency inspectors general report waste, fraud, and abuse to Congress. The president should have complied with the law by providing Congress with 30 days’ notice of the dismissals, according to several prominent Republicans.

However, the Republican from South Carolina questioned, “Is it OK for him to choose those that he believes are capable of executing his plans? Indeed. The election was won by him. Do you think he will just leave everyone in Washington as they were before he was elected? “He feels that the government hasn’t worked very well for the American people,” Graham said.

Trump has another demanding week ahead of him

Trump has made hints that he may be a transformative leader by demonstrating vigor and concentration as well as swift action to carry out his campaign pledges, particularly those related to immigration. After Vice President JD Vance delivered the decisive Senate vote on his contentious confirmation, his agent of disruption at the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, was sworn in as defense secretary on Saturday.

However, Trump has also done things that would make a lot of the swing voters who helped him win back the presidency unhappy.

Many Republicans were taken aback by his sweeping pardons of rioters who were convicted of serious crimes on January 6, 2021. Additionally, his decision to deprive former aides who opposed him of their security details—including a few who had received threats from Iran—showed a fixation with old grudges that sometimes diverts him from his political objectives.

Last week, Trump claimed that people were more worried about immigration than about the high cost of groceries. However, he may need to make real economic success if Republicans are to hold onto their slim House majority in the next midterm elections.

The president’s meeting with Republican legislators on Monday at his Doral golf property in South Florida is particularly significant since it will center on how to get his agenda through Congress, which includes tax cuts and funding for his mass deportation program.

A sudden confrontation with Colombia highlights the risks associated with the immigration cleansing.

The new US president was put to the test right away by Colombia’s attempted resistance, which was likely to be closely monitored across the region.

Trump’s first reaction was heartbreaking. On Colombian imports, he imposed emergency 25% tariffs that would increase to 50% in a week. Among other actions, the US also withdrew Colombian officials’ visas and placed a “travel ban” on Colombian nationals.

On Truth Social, Trump issued a warning: “These actions are only the first step.” Regarding the reception and repatriation of the criminals they pushed into the United States, we will not let the Colombian government flout its legal duties!

“Trump, I don’t really like traveling to the US; it’s a bit boring,” Petro said on X. Even that Trump considers “me an inferior race and I’m not, nor is any Colombian,” according to the left-leaning president.

According to Ryan Berg, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Americas Program, Petro may have had good reason to start a heated argument with Trump, not least because he was unhappy with the current commercial relationship with the US, a longstanding military partner. Berg went on to say that Petro could believe that “comparing himself to the United States and being seen as fighting for the dignity of Latin America will benefit him.”

However, the US, Colombia’s biggest trade partner, might impose permanent 50% tariffs on the country, which could have severe consequences. Berg also predicted that Colombia would need to covertly reach a deal with Trump only hours before the White House announced that Colombia had changed its mind. “If they believe they can just survive 50% tariffs and everything else that Trump said he was going to do—sanctions on banks and investments and everything else,” he continued, “they’re in for a rude awakening.”

“A 25% US tariff would be immediate and devastating,” Maria Claudia Lacouture, the chairwoman of the Colombo American Chamber of Commerce, wrote on X. “In order to resolve this grave problem as quickly as possible, we need common sense, reason, and communication, giving diplomatic channels first priority. All parties involved need to be at ease,” she stated.

According to the US commerce representative, US commerce with Colombia in 2022 was $53.5 billion in goods and services, which is a negligible portion of US trade with its major trading partners, including China and Canada. However, if the already skyrocketing costs of eggs were coupled with increases in the price of coffee, a vital Colombian commodity, a protracted trade war with Colombia may have had one real effect: raising the cost of breakfast in America.

On January 24, 2025, US Army troops patrol Eagle Pass, Texas, along the US-Mexico border. As part of a rush to address immigration, US President Donald Trump ordered 1,500 more military soldiers to the Mexican border, according to a spokesperson for the president on January 22. The new hires would increase the number of active-duty soldiers stationed at the US border with Mexico to around 4,000. The president has made border security a top priority and declared a national emergency there on his first day in office.

The most important move Trump’s administration has made in Latin America so far is his rebuke of Petro.

US demands to stop migrant flows and enhance deportations from US territory are at the top of the agenda for incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip to Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic later this week.

More generally, a geopolitical struggle for influence in Latin America between the United States and China is expected to grow during the next four years. By making false claims that Beijing controls the Panama Canal and threatening to regain authority of the vital canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific seas, Trump has already alienated Panama.

Therefore, it was no accident that China’s ambassador to Colombia decided to bring up an interview in which he recalled that Colombia’s foreign minister had stated last year that relations between Bogota and Beijing were at their “best moment” in 45 years on Sunday afternoon, as diplomatic jabs were being exchanged between Trump and Petro.

Furthermore, Trump’s grandiose aspirations to reorganize the Middle East after suggesting over the weekend that he might “clean out” war-ravaged Gaza and transfer refugees to Jordan and Egypt may be complicated by the fact that the rest of the globe has a voice, regardless of how forcefully he exercises authority. Even if the Israeli far-right supports the proposal, it is unworkable for the main US allies and might jeopardize his main regional objective, which is to align Arab nations with Israel in an anti-Iranian front.

The Trump administration intensifies its new immigration campaign

According to two sources, the Trump administration instructed ICE field offices to reach a daily goal of 75 arrests, which prompted the launch of the government’s new multiagency immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.

Last week, the Trump administration instructed federal prosecutors to look into officials in Democratic-run states and localities, such as Illinois and Chicago, if they oppose the new immigration enforcement initiatives. This increased the likelihood that the mass deportations would lead to the most significant conflict between local, state, and federal authority in recent memory.

Democratic Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois said on “State of the Union” that although he supported the administration’s objective of deporting dangerous offenders, he had concerns about the administration’s strategy.

“We’re all for it if that’s who they’re picking up,” Pritzker said. “They’re targeting law-abiding individuals who are employed, have families here, and may have been here for ten or twenty years,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether that backfires politically

The president returns to Washington after meeting Monday with House Republicans, whose slim majority has significant ramifications for Trump’s agenda. Given his determination to quickly consolidate power, the second week of his second term will undoubtedly be just as hectic and shocking as the first.