Alina Habba, counselor to President Donald Trump, told Newsmax on Monday that Colombia's President Gustavo Petro learned a tough lesson when he turned away two U.S. military aircraft carrying criminal illegal immigrants from his country: “You mess with the bull, you get the horns.”
It only took minutes after Petro on Sunday blocked the planes from entering his country for Trump to threaten to impose sweeping retaliatory measures such as tariffs and sanctions. Petro just as quickly backed down, and the nations that night came to an agreement that, among other things, allowed the repatriation flights to continue.
“He was trying to flex, it sounds like, this Colombian president and he flexed with the wrong president,” Habba told “Rob Schmitt Tonight.” “And that's President Trump. It was very clear what happened. Frankly, it was on social media so we could all see it. [Trump] very quickly said: You're going to mess with us? You're not going to take your criminals back because you don't like how they're shackled? Well, then take them. Treat them like princes for all we care. But you're going to take them back because they had no business being in our country.
“President Trump made that very clear. He said he would tariff them; he said he would deal with their visas with the people that are coming in from Colombia. He would hit them hard. … The America first foreign policy is putting our country above all others. And, frankly, it was tremendous to watch. And it's exactly what this country has missed for the last four years.”
Habba said Trump is simply following through on campaign promises to implement an America first foreign policy, especially when it comes to illegal immigration.
“That's what the American people voted for,” she said. “And putting these foreign America first policies in place is exactly what we're going to do.
“You are not messing with us … these are your people; you have to take them back. You don't like the way we delivered them? OK. I don't care if you put them in a horse and carriage. You're taking them back. And that's just the way it's going to be. And I think [Trump is] sending a really strong message.”
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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