Washington will not impose sanctions and tariffs on Colombia after the South American nation agreed to accept deported migrants from the United States, the White House said in a statement late on Sunday.
“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 U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” it said.
President Donald Trump had earlier fired back at Colombia with “emergency 25 percent tariffs” and a number of “decisive retaliatory measures” after the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, blocked two repatriation flights from landing.
He had added that a travel ban and visa revocations will be imposed on Colombian government officials as well as “all allies and supporters”.
This comes after Petro said in a series of posts on X that Colombia would not accept military deportation flights from the U.S. until the Trump White House sets up a process to treat Colombian migrants with “dignity and respect.”
“I do not authorize the entry of North American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” Petro said on X. “The U.S. must establish a protocol of dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
Meanwhile, the fallout of Trump’s actions against any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within the federal government continues.
The Air Force is removing training courses that included videos of its Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the female World War II pilots who ferried warplanes for the military. This comes as agencies and departments scramble to comply with Trump’s crackdown on DEI efforts.
Key Points
- Trump threatens Colombia with ‘decisive retaliatory measures’ for turning away deportation flights
- Trump demands California voter ID law for wildfire relief; threatens future of FEMA
- Trump says he wants to ‘clean out’ Gaza as he restarts policy to give Israel new bombs
- Even Republicans are questioning Trump’s ‘illegal’ midnight purge of inspector generals
What does Trump and Starmer’s relationship look like a week into US presidency?
06:00
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Millie Cooke
Keir Starmer and Donald Trump’s relationship has been far from smooth sailing, with the two having a turbulent dynamic since the Labour leader entered Downing Street. But now Trump is officially back in the White House for his second term – does it look like tensions might finally be thawing?
If Trump’s most recent comments are to be believed, the answer is yes. The president struck an astoundingly positive tone when speaking about Starmer in some comments made to the BBC on board Air Force One on Saturday – saying he has a “very good relationship” with his British counterpart, and adding the prime minister has done a “very good job thus far”.
But that doesn’t paint the whole picture. It comes amid the backdrop of an ongoing row with Trump’s ally Elon Musk, who has publicly criticised the UK PM, and anger over Labour helping Kamala Harris in the US election.
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Starmer and Trump stress ‘close and warm ties’ and agree to meet soon – No 10
05:00
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Nina Lloyd
Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump “stressed the importance of the close and warm ties” between Britain and the US and “agreed to meet soon” in a call on Sunday, Downing Street has said.
The talks came hours after the US president praised the Prime Minister for having done “a very good job thus far” and confirmed the pair were due to speak soon.
In a readout of the call, a Number 10 spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on Sunday.
“President Trump opened by sending his condolences to the Prime Minister on the loss of his brother. The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his kind words and congratulated him on his inauguration.
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Trump puts tariffs on hold as Colombia agrees to take deported migrants
04:35
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Mehraj D Lone
The U.S. and Colombia pulled back from the brink of a trade war on Sunday after the White House said the South American nation had agreed to accept military aircraft carrying deported migrants.
In a statement late on Sunday, the White House said Colombia had agreed to accept the migrants after all and Washington would not impose its threatened penalties.
“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 U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” it said.
Draft orders imposing tariffs and sanctions on Colombia would be “held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement”, it added.
In a statement late on Sunday, Colombian foreign minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said: “We have overcome the impasse with the U.S. government”.
The government of Colombia “has the presidential plane ready to facilitate the return of Colombians who were going to arrive in the country this morning on deportation flights”, he added.
04:10
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Mehraj
US pauses Colombia tariffs and sanctions plan
Washington will not impose sanctions and tariffs on Colombia after the South American nation agreed to accept deported migrants from the US, the White House press secretary said in a statement late on Sunday.
Carrie Underwood sees streaming numbers tumble after performing at Trump inauguration
04:00
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Kevin E G Perry
Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “America the Beautiful” at President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration went viral after being hit by technical difficulties, but all that extra attention failed to result in an increase in listenership for the American Idol winner.
In fact, her streaming numbers actually fell on Inauguration Day. According to entertainment data analysts Luminate, her music was streamed 1.46 million times on Monday January 20, down six percent from the previous Monday when it was streamed 1.55 million times.
Billboard reports that rapper Nelly, who performed at President Trump’s inaugural Liberty Ball on Monday, also saw a decline in listenership. His songs were streamed 1.54 million times on inauguration day, down from 1.63 million a week earlier.
Both artists did see a small increase in digital download sales, although neither managed to top the 1,000 downloads mark that day.
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VOICES: Trump’s suggestion to ‘clean out’ Gaza is extreme and dangerous
03:00
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Sam Kiley
The lessons of Trump’s Presidency 2.0 are that if he says it, he probably means it. He said he’d stop US aid to Ukraine, and he has. In his latest comments on Gaza, he has thrown his weight behind a far-right Israeli-fringe idea to depopulate the enclave.
He told reporters flying with him on Air Force One that he’d just had a call with Jordan’s king, Abdullah II. “I said to him, ‘I’d love for you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess,’” Trump told reporters.
He added that he would also like Egypt to take in more Palestinians and that he would speak to the country’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, on Sunday.
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Acting deputy AG visits Chicago to 'observe' immigration enforcement crackdown
02:00
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Sophia Tareen, Alanna Durkin Richer
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcementin the nation’s third-largest city promised by the Trump administration, though few details of the operation were made public.
Bove said he was in Chicago on Sunday morning and observed Department of Homeland Security agents, along with assisting federal agencies — including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. He didn’t say where the operations took place in the city or detail any arrests.
“We will support everyone at the federal, state, and local levels who joins this critical mission to take back our communities,” Bove said in a statement. “We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful impediments to our efforts to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we will not rest until the work is done.”
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WATCH: President Trump’s ‘border czar’ says military flights will deport millions of illegal immigrants
01:00
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Gustaf Kilander
Did Trump revoke the Equal Employment Opportunity Act? Here’s what to know
00:15
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Ariana Baio
In keeping with his promise to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that prohibits the the use of affirmative action or other diversity measures as well as revoked a batch of decades-old policies that protect federal employees from discrimination
The order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” rescinds guidance dating back to former president Lyndon Johnson’s administration that intended to protect and strengthen protections for federal workers.
Trump claimed it was necessary to backpedal DEI programs because they are “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral.”
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Trump’s new gender rules gut a key part of the Prison Rape Elimination Act
Sunday 26 January 2025 23:30
,
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump used an executive order on gender this week to gut a major federal law offering protections against the sky-high rate of sexual violence faced by the most vulnerable individuals inside the federal prison system.
On Monday, the president signed an order requiring the government only recognize a person’s gender as defined by whether their biological sex at birth is deemed male or female, effectively erasing transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people from federal law.
Buried in the fine print was a change to what the order called Part 115.41 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations. That provision is better known by its more common name: the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
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Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend truce, White House says
Sunday 26 January 2025 22:48
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Kelly Rissman
“The arrangement between Lebanon and Israel, monitored by the United States, will continue to be in effect until February 18, 2025,” the White House said Sunday evening. “The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023.”
Longtime Trump backer Lindsey Graham says pardoning Jan. 6 defendants was a ‘mistake’
Sunday 26 January 2025 22:45
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Gustaf Kilander
A longtime backer of President Donald Trump, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, said Sunday that he thinks the new president’s choice to pardon January 6 defendants was a “mistake.”
“Pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer violently I think was a mistake, because it seems to suggest that’s an OK thing to do,” Graham said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
Graham went on to connect Trump’s pardons of violent criminals to former President Joe Biden’s choice to pardon a number of members of his family in the final hours of his presidency.
“You know, Biden pardoned half his family going out the door. I think most Americans, if this continues ... will revisit the pardon power of the president if this continues,” Graham added. “As to pardoning violent people who beat up cops, I think that’s a mistake.”
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As Hegseth takes charge at the Pentagon, here's what changes could be in store
Sunday 26 January 2025 22:00
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Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp
When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth starts his first official day on Monday morning, he will face a daunting array of issues to tackle — from global conflicts and border security to administrative tasks.
At the top of his list is addressing President Donald Trump‘s priority to strengthen the U.S. military presence along the southern border and reviewing whether active-duty forces should be used for law enforcement — something done rarely.
Dozens of other issues will compete for his attention, including developing the Pentagon‘s massive budget, decisions about aid to Ukraine, support for the ceasefire in Gaza, troop deployments in the Middle East. Not to mention Trump directives to rid the federal government of diversity programs and personnel as well as moves to cut waste and remove any lingering Biden administration backers.
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Trump expected to make decision on Lord Mandelson as ambassador this week
Sunday 26 January 2025 21:30
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David Maddox
Donald Trump is expected to make a decision over Lord Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US this week, State Department sources have said.
The Independent has been told the president is still “likely to reject” the credentials of the former business secretary, despite hopes being raised after Mr Trump said he likes Sir Keir Starmer “a lot”.
Concerns over Lord Mandelson’s links to China, his connection with the late Jeffrey Epstein, and his previous role as an EU commissioner have all been raised as reasons why Mr Trump could reject Lord Mandelson in an unprecedented move between the two countries.
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Zelensky’s man in DC: Ukraine president’s plan to convince Trump to support the war against Russia
Sunday 26 January 2025 21:00
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David Maddox
Concerns that Donald Trump may be prepared to ditch America’s support for Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky are wrong, insiders have claimed.
People working with the newly installed White House administration point to the presence of one of Zelensky’s key allies at a place of honour at President Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
David Arakhamia, the Ukrainian parliamentary group leader of Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, was afforded a rare place in the Capitol rotunda to witness the inauguration on Monday. He has since told Ukrainian media that he now expects a formal Ukrainian delegation to meet with the US president next month.
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Trump says he wants to ‘clean out’ Gaza as he restarts policy to give Israel new bombs
Sunday 26 January 2025 20:30
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Alex Lang, Zeke Miller, Will Weissert
President Donald Trump said he would like to see Gaza “just cleaned out,” allowing a clean slate for the war-torn region on the back of the ceasefire deal.
Trump called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting. His hope is they take enough to allow the area to start anew.
Trump has built his political career around being unapologetically pro-Israel. On his larger vision for Gaza, Trump told reporters on Air Force One he had call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said in a Saturday meeting with reporters. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”
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Even Republicans are questioning Trump’s ‘illegal’ midnight purge of inspector generals
Sunday 26 January 2025 20:00
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Gustaf Kilander
Some Republicans are concerned about President Donald Trump’s late-night firing Friday of more than a dozen inspectors general without giving the proper notification to Congress.
The new Trump administration fired about 17 inspectors general on Friday from a number of departments and agencies, including State, Defense and Transportation. The inspectors general are there to work against fraud, corruption and abuses of power.
Congressional Democrats were quick to slam the firings, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying that the action came in the “dark of night” and that it was a “chilling” indication of what the next four years would look like.
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‘Trump is cool now’: Bill Maher eviscerates Democrats for allowing Trump’s popularity rise
Sunday 26 January 2025 19:30
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Gustaf Kilander
Comedian Bill Maher slammed Democrats for allowing President Donald Trump’s popularity to rise following his first week in office.
“Here’s how bad the Democrats f***** up: Trump is cool now,” Maher said on Real Time with Bill Maher. “He’s not just the most powerful guy in the world and just made himself like the richest, he’s actually kind of [cool] at 78!”
Maher pointed to rappers and athletes sharing their liking of the new president. Nelly, Rick Ross, and Snoop Dogg all performed at inaugural events, in addition to the Village People.
“I mean, rappers like him, the athletes are doing…” Maher added as he gestured Trump’s well-known rally dance.
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Trump threatens Colombia with ‘decisive retaliatory measures’ for turning away deportation flights
Sunday 26 January 2025 19:09
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Gustaf Kilander
President Donald Trump has threatened Colombia with “decisive retaliatory measures” after two “repatriation flights” were not allowed to land in the country, the commander-in-chief wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
“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,” Trump wrote on the social media platform. “This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people.”
He added: “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 ... urgent and decisive retaliatory measures.”
Trump went on to say that the U.S. government would impose 25 percent tariffs on Colombia on “all goods” going to the U.S. In a week, those tariffs would be raised to 50 percent, the president claimed.
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After years of war, they were finally about to start their American life — until Trump
Sunday 26 January 2025 19:00
,
Michelle Del Rey
Batool’s 9-year-old sister no longer draws pictures of a united family.
That’s because her older sisters are in the U.S. while she remains in Afghanistan, hiding with her parents and two brothers.
It’s been nearly a decade since the family has been together.
Batool, who lives in the U.S., and her little sister thousands of miles away are just some of the several thousand people impacted by President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending the admission of refugees into the U.S.
On Monday, Trump signed the order titled “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,” effectively shutting down refugee resettlement immediately.
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Alaskans say Trump can change the name of Denali but can't make people call it Mount McKinley
Sunday 26 January 2025 18:30
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Mark Thiessen
North America’s tallest peak is a focal point of Jeff King’s life.
The four-time winner of the 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race operates his kennel and mushing tourism business just 8 miles (12.87 kilometers) from Denali National Park and Preserve’s entrance, and the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain looms large as he trains his dogs on nearby trails.
King and many others who live in the mountain’s shadow say most Alaskans will never stop calling the peak Denali, its Alaska Native name, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order that the name revert to Mount McKinley -- an identifier inspired by President William McKinley, who was from Ohio and never set foot in Alaska.
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Elon Musk makes surprise appearance during Germany’s AfD election campaign event
Sunday 26 January 2025 18:00
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Tara Cobham
Elon Musk made a surprise appearance during an Alternative for Germany election campaign event, rallying the party’s far-right supporters at the end of a week when he has been embroiled in controversy.
The world’s richest person tuned in live via video link to a hall of 4,500 people in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far-right party for the second time in as many weeks.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO urged Germans to move “past guilt” in a week when he caused uproar after he made a gesture that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute during US president Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities. Mr Musk has strongly denied that he did so.
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The tech bros ruined America’s coolest city and they are about to ruin the country too
Sunday 26 January 2025 17:30
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Alex Hannaford
As Donald Trump took the oath of office on 20 January to become the 47th president of the United States, watching from the second row where politicians and long-serving government officials once sat was a collection of tech billionaires instead.
Elon Musk looked like he’d purchased his seat with the same casual largesse he applies to buying social media platforms. Sundar Pichai of Google appeared calculated, a corporate chess piece positioning himself for the next move. Jeff Bezos was busy smizing, barely concealing his ambition to secure government contracts for his space company, Blue Origin.
And then there was Mark Zuckerberg – nerdy, harmless ol’ Zuck, like a graduate student who’d wandered into the wrong room, but whose embracing of Trump seems, somehow, the most egregious. Perhaps we thought better of him?
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SNL comedian uses five words to explain why ‘Elon Musk is not a Nazi’
Sunday 26 January 2025 17:00
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Greg Evans
Saturday Night Live has taken a swift aim at Elon Musk, following the Tesla CEO’s controversial salute towards Donald Trump on inauguration day that many have deemed fascist.
Musk, 53, was heavily criticised, including pushback from his own family, after he touched his chest and raised his right arm towards the sky as a gesture of thanks to Trump. He then repeated the salute just seconds later.
During the 26 January episode of SNL, Weekend Update host Michael Che mocked Musk for the salute, once again drawing comparisons to the Nazis and Musk’s own Tesla brand.
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Mass deportations will happen every day for 4 years and the numbers will grow, Trump’s ‘border czar’ says
Sunday 26 January 2025 16:49
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Gustaf Kilander
Trump “border czar” Tom Homan said there will be mass deportations every day during Trump’s term and that the numbers will grow each week.
The face of Trump’s deportation efforts was on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, where he detailed the administration’s efforts.
“I want to go back to those military flights going south,” ABC’s Martha Raddatz said. “We have never seen that before. Is that going to be a constant commitment from the U.S. military every single day to take deportees out?”
Homan had a simple response: “Yes.”
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More DEI fallout: Air Force scraps course that used videos of Tuskegee Airmen and female WWII pilots
Sunday 26 January 2025 16:48
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AP
The Air Force has removed training courses with videos of its storied Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs — the female World War II pilots who were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military — to comply with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The videos were shown to Air Force troops as part of DEI courses they took during basic military training.
In a statement, the Air Force confirmed the courses with those videos had been removed and said it “will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives.”
The problem may not be with the historical videos themselves, but that they were used in Air Force basic military training DEI coursework. However, the lack of clearer guidance has sent the Air Force and other agencies scrambling to take the broadest approach to what content is removed to make sure they are in compliance.
The Tuskegee Airmen, known as the “Red Tails” were the nation’s first Black military pilots who served in a segregated WWII unit and their all-Black 332nd Fighter Group had one of the lowest loss records of all the bomber escorts in the war.
They flew P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang and other fighter aircraft to escort American bombers on dangerous missions over Germany. Before the fighter escorts began accompanying the slow and heavy U.S. bombers, losses were catastrophic due to getting dive-bombed and strafed by German aircraft.
In a statement late Saturday, Tuskegee Airmen Inc. the nonprofit foundation created to preserve the legacy of those pilots, said it was “strongly opposed” to the removal of the videos to comply with Trump’s order.
The stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASPs “are an essential part of American history and carried significant weight in the World War II veteran community. We believe the content of these courses does not promote one category of service member or citizen over another. They are simply a part of American military history that all service members should be made aware of,” the group said.
Even Republicans are questioning Trump’s ‘illegal’ midnight purge of inspector generals
Sunday 26 January 2025 16:46
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Gustaf Kilander
Some Republicans are concerned about President Donald Trump’s late-night firing Friday of more than a dozen inspectors general without giving the proper notification to Congress.
The new Trump administration fired about 17 inspectors general on Friday from a number of departments and agencies, including State, Defense and Transportation. The inspectors general are there to work against fraud, corruption and abuses of power.
Congressional Democrats were quick to slam the firings, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying that the action came in the “dark of night” and that it was a “chilling” indication of what the next four years would look like.
Read more:
