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President Trump hits Colombia with tariffs for refusing deportation flights
Biggest sanctuary cities brace for Trump deportations
Los Angeles and New York have taken different approaches to sanctuary city status as Trump’s second term approaches.
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Sunday announced stiff new tariffs on imports from Colombia and visa restrictions in retaliation to Colombian President Gustavo Petro denying the entry of U.S. military flights deporting Colombian migrants.
Shortly after Trump’s threat, Petro said he would provide a presidential plane for the “dignified return” of Columbia migrants who face deportations from the U.S.
After learning of two repatriation flights that weren’t allowed to land in Colombia, Trump said he would issue 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia and raise it to 50% tariffs after one week. He further announced the immediate revocation of visas and a travel ban to the U.S. for Colombian government officials and their allies and supporters.
Trump promised financial sanctions on Colombia and said he would heighten customs and border protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds. “These measures are just the beginning,” Trump said in a post 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!”
Trump’s moves come as he is seeking to aggressively act on his promise of mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally. During his first week in office, Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and ordered U.S. troops to help carry out deportations, which has resulted in deportees flying back to their home countries in handcuffs.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro wrote in a Sunday morning post on X that triggered Trump’s actions. “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.”
The largest U.S. imports from Colombia include crude oil, coffee, and cut flowers, according to the State Department. Trump has discussed plans to issue tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China, igniting concerns of trade wars as he begins his second term.
Multiple Latin American countries have pushed back at Trump’s militarized deportations.
Brazil has also condemned the conditions in which deportees have been returned. And last week, Mexico refused to accept a deportation flight for the first time in decades.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement Sunday defending the deportation policy and demanding cooperation from Latin American nations.
“President Trump has made it clear that under his administration, America will no longer be lied to nor taken advantage of. It is the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the United States in a serious and expeditious manner,” Rubio said.
“Colombian President Petro had authorized flights and provided all needed authorizations and then canceled his authorization when the planes were in the air,” Rubio added. “As demonstrated by today’s actions, we are unwavering in our commitment to end illegal immigration and bolster America’s border security.”
Reach Joey Garrison X @joeygarrison.
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Read the Ruling Dismissing the Charges Against James Comey
Case 1:25-cr-00272-MSN-WEF Document 213 Filed 11/24/25
Page 5 of 29 PageID#
3073
General Letitia James.7 Mr. Siebert’s resignation came hours after President Trump told reporters
at the White House he “want[ed] [Mr. Siebert] out.’
media:
228
The next day, President Trump posted (and later deleted) the following message on social
Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, “same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Then we almost put in a Democrat supported U.S. Attorney, in Virginia, with a really bad Republican past. A Woke RINO, who was never going to do his job. That’s why two of the worst Dem Senators PUSHED him so hard. He even lied to the media and said he quit, and that we had no case. No, I fired him, and there is a GREAT CASE, and many lawyers, and legal pundits, say so. Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT⁹
Less than 48 hours after President Trump’s post, on September 22, 2025, the Attorney General issued an order “authorizing Lindsey Halligan to be the Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during the vacancy in that office” (“September 22 Order”). Att’y Gen. Order No. 6402-2025. The September 22 Order cites only 28 U.S.C. § 546 as the basis for Ms. Halligan’s appointment. Id.
7
Id.; Salvador Rizzo, Perry Stein & Jeremy Roebuck, Top Virginia Prosecutor Resigns Amid Criticism over Letitia James Investigation, Wash. Post (Sept. 20, 2025), https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/19/trump-letitia-james-erik-siebert- virginia/; The Associated Press, U.S. Attorney Resigns Under Pressure From Trump to Charge N.Y. AG Letitia James, NPR (Sept. 20, 2025), https://www.npr.org/2025/09/20/nx-s1-5547837/us- attorney-virginia-resigns-letitia-james-probe.
8 Thrush et al., supra note 6.
⁹ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Truth Social (Sept. 20, 2025, at 18:44 ET),
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115239044548033727.
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Storms in the South, snow in the North — and a map that shows every delay
Holiday travel is underway, and the weather is already throwing curveballs across the country. A strong system in the South is driving heavy rain and thunderstorms from Texas to Mississippi, with a slight risk of severe weather reaching into the Tennessee Valley.
According to the National Weather Service, flash flooding is possible in the Texas Hill Country, and storms will shift east on Tuesday, bringing rain from Atlanta to New York and likely delays at major hubs.
Farther north, a quick-moving clipper system is spreading 3 to 6 inches of snow across the northern Plains and into the Great Lakes through Wednesday. Blowing snow and gusty winds could make roads slick on I-94 and I-29 and complicate flights in Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit.
In the West, the Pacific Northwest stays stormy, with rounds of lowland rain and mountain snow, while Utah and surrounding areas see seasonable temperatures and only light mountain snow.
Much of the East stays unusually warm ahead of a cold front, with highs from the 60s to the 80s before temperatures drop toward Thanksgiving.
Tracking delays
For travelers concerned about flight status, FlightAware’s “Misery Map” offers a real-time picture of nationwide delays and cancellations. The map color-codes major airports based on on-time performance and weather impacts, giving travelers a quick sense of whether delays are isolated or stacking up across the system.
Bottom line: Plan extra time, check your airline’s app frequently and watch tools like the Misery Map as you head out — especially Monday through Wednesday, when the highest impacts are expected.
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Texas men indicted in plot to take over Haitian island and enslave women and children
Satellite image of Haiti, including Gonave Island.
Planet Observer/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
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Planet Observer/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Two men from North Texas have been charged over violent plans that included an armed coup on the Haitian island of Gonave, according to the Justice Department.
Gavin Weisenburg, 21 years old of Allen, and Tanner Thomas, 20 years old of Argyle, along with other co-conspirators planned to murder all men on the Haitian territory before taking over the island, and enslaving the women and children as “sex slaves,” according to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Thursday.
“The co-conspirators conducted research, reconnaissance, recruiting, planning, and sought training to effectuate their plan,” the indictment reads. “It was the goal of the conspiracy to take military control of the Island of Gonave by murdering all the men on the island and capturing all the women.”
Both men are charged with conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country and face one count of producing child pornography. They could face life in prison if convicted on the conspiracy charge. The child pornography charge carries up to a 30-year prison sentence.
Weisenburg’s attorney, David Finn, told NPR in a statement on Sunday that he encourages everyone to “hold their horses” and his client will plead not guilty.
“While there is some limited factual basis to the Government’s Press Release, I’m reminded that something can be somewhat accurate yet wildly misleading at the same time,” Finn wrote in an email.
Thomas’ attorney John Helms said in an email to NPR late Sunday that his client will also plead not guilty and that his team will be “defending him vigorously against these charges.”
Federal prosecutors allege that Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January 2025 to gain military training that “would be useful in carrying out their armed coup attack.”
Weisenburg in August 2024 enrolled in the North Texas Fire Academy in Rockwall, Texas, to train for the coup, but failed out of the program nearly six months later, according to the indictment.

The men also plotted to recruit and hire homeless people from Washington, D.C., to overthrow Haiti’s government on Gonave, according to prosecutors. In March, Thomas changed his basic training assignment from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to facilitate homeless recruitment in the nation’s capital. A spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force did not respond on Sunday to an NPR request for comment on Thomas’ military service.
Prosecutors say Weisenburg and Thomas began planning the attack in August 2024 and communicated about the plan on social media. Both took Haitian Creole language training and researched ammunition and weapons, including military-type rifles. The two planned to transport firearms, ammunition and explosives by sailboat, according to the indictment. Weisenburg allegedly traveled to Thailand to enroll in sailing school in preparation for the purchase of the sailboat and voyage to Haiti.
Gonave Island is located some 30 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince and prosecutors say it’s home to about 87,000 people.
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