Different countries in the Americas are reportedly getting in touch with the Trump administration to convey their willingness to accept deportees following President Donald Trump's tariff standoff with his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro on Sunday.
The confrontation began after Colombia denied entry to a plane full of deported migrants coming from the U.S. on Sunday. The decision led to a brief standoff between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro that included sanctions and visa appointment cancellations.
"A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves," Petro said in a post on X. "That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants... In civilian planes, without being treated like criminals, we will receive our fellow citizens."
Petro's move led to Trump threatening to place tariffs on Colombian imports that would start at 25% on all goods and quickly rise to 50% and the promise of a "Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters," according to MSNBC.
Eventually, Trump claimed victory in the dispute, announcing via social media Sunday that the South American country had agreed to accept its citizens deported on U.S. military planes. The tension has seemingly caught the attention of other countries, making them eager to remain on the Republican president's good side.
"Other countries began reaching out after that" to discuss accepting deportees, a top White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Axios, without elaborating. "There is more of a willingness to take back their citizens and to express that."
Other countries, even since before the Colombian encounter, are open to striking deals with the U.S. and keeping good standing with the president.
For instance, three days before Trump's row with Petro, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele tentatively agreed with Trump to accept his citizens who are deported from the U.S., as well as Tren de Aragua gang members originally from Venezuela.
The arrangement, known as a "Safe Third Country" agreement, would empower U.S. immigration officials to deport non-Salvadoran migrants to El Salvador, blocking them from requesting asylum in the U.S. Instead, the migrants would be deported with instructions to seek asylum in El Salvador, which would be designated a "safe third country," CBS News reports.
At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has vowed to make curbing mass migration a top priority, is scheduled to visit El Salvador in early February as part of a trip to Latin America set to start later this week.
Trump's harsh rhetoric and America First perspective will likely continue throughout his term. In fact, the president is seeking to showcase a new, aggressive foreign policy that goes all the way back to the Monroe Doctrine and establishes the Western Hemisphere as a China- and Russia-free zone, according to Axios.
"[Trump] means what he says, and I think any nation that doesn't believe that is making very poor judgement," said Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who served in Trump's first administration.
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