The ordeal may not be over for some of the more than 1,500 Jan. 6 criminal defendants granted clemency by President Donald Trump, as certain prosecutors are currently investigating whether some of the individuals — particularly those alleged to have committed violent crimes — could be charged at the state or local level.

That loophole was floated by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who told CNN that his office was looking into the possibility of bringing state election- or conspiracy-related charges against some of the Pennsylvania residents who were pardoned or saw their prison sentences commuted during the first week of the Trump presidency.

Krasner’s office could theoretically take action against the more than 100 Pennsylvania residents who received full pardons or sentence commutations, including a Philadelphia-based Proud Boys leader who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of seditious conspiracy and another Pittsburgh-area man sentenced to 14 years in prison for indiscriminately spraying pepper spray at police officers, throwing a folding chair at officers and wielding a large wooden ‘tire thumper,’ according to the Justice Department.

Krasner declined to detail further how, or if, his office will move on the state charges, and his office did not respond to several requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

However, Krasner maintained that in his view, ‘there is a path’ for charging Jan. 6 individuals — and not just those living in the Keystone State.

Trump’s decision to sign a sweeping act of clemency freed more than 1,500 individuals that were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol breach.More than 100 police officers were injured, according to officials, and the incident ultimately sparked the largest FBI investigation in the bureau’s history.  

‘In many cases, it will be possible to go after people who have been federally pardoned,’ Krasner told CNN Thursday.

‘The focus for most state prosecutors should be what occurred within their jurisdiction,’ he said. ‘Texting, phone calls, emails, reservations for transportation or hotels. Conspiratorial activity could give rise to a local charge — meaning a state charge — of criminal conspiracy.’ 

Still, that is not to say that the strategy is without significant hurdles.

Former prosecutors told Fox News Digital that those looking to bring state charges against Jan. 6 rioters will almost certainly find themselves mired in a complex legal minefield.

The difficulty of securing state convictions has nothing to do with the seriousness of the crimes committed by the Jan. 6 rioters — which range from charges of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding to assault and assault against police officers — but rather, jurisdictional issues and wide double jeopardy protections.

Here, the facts are especially complex, since both Washington, D.C., and U.S. Capitol grounds fall under federal court jurisdiction, former U.S. prosecutor Andrew McCarthy explained in a Thursday message to Fox News Digital. 

This means any conspiracy to commit a crime would inherently be at the federal level — a complex catch-22 that would be difficult for state prosecutors to isolate in court.

State prosecutors also have a very narrow scope in trying to prove new criminal action. 

That is because they must do so while respecting the broad double jeopardy protections included in the U.S. Constitution, which prevent individuals from being tried for the same case twice. It also is taken to mean that they cannot be tried twice for the same conduct. 

In fact, for state prosecutors to bring charges against an individual, they must prove successive actions are focused on remedying a ‘very different kind of harm or evil’ than the federal charges, and it is unclear whether states will be able to meet that burden of proof. 

McCarthy and other lawyers pointed to the 2019 decision by a New York judge who cited the double jeopardy clause as the rationale for tossing a 16-count indictment state prosecutors brought against Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, ruling that the conduct was not sufficiently different. 

It is unclear how, or if, any charges brought by state prosecutors could satisfy the test of proving a ‘very different kind of harm or evil’ — but Krasner, a self-proclaimed Democrat who has spent more than 20 years as a prosecutor, said he believes so. 

He is not the only one sharing that sentiment. One partner at the Democrat-aligned Elias Law Group told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement Friday that it is their belief that ‘any individuals who committed crimes that day should be held accountable.’ 

‘If any of the rioters may have violated state laws, it is up to state and local law enforcement officials to review the facts and bring charges as appropriate,’ the attorney said. ‘The rule of law must be upheld, regardless of President Trump’s political incentives.’

Meanwhile, Republicans were forced to toe a delicate line in the aftermath of Trump’s pardons — facing tough questions as to what the clemency orders meant for a party that has long been seen as one that ‘backs the blue’ and supports police officer protections.

Vice President JD Vance used an interview on CBS News on Sunday to accuse former Attorney General Merrick Garland of applying ‘double standards in how sentences were applied to the J6 protesters, versus other groups,’ in an attempt to soften his earlier remarks.

Vance, a former U.S. senator, previously told Fox News that Jan. 6 participants who committed violence ‘obviously’ should not be pardoned.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Wednesday ‘the president has made his decision.’ ‘I don’t second-guess those,’ Johnson said. 

Others were more direct in their criticism.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., told reporters that she was ‘disappointed to see’ the decision to pardon violent offenders, including those who were convicted of violence against police officers. 

‘I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us,’ she said.

This was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who told reporters the pardons were ‘deeply un-American.’

‘Let’s be clear, President Trump didn’t just pardon protesters,’ Schumer said. ‘He pardoned individuals convicted of assaulting police officers. He pardoned individuals convicted of seditious conspiracy. And he pardoned those who attempted to undermine our democracy.’ 

More than 200 people were in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prison system prior to Trump’s pardon. By Tuesday morning, all of them had been released, officials told The Associated Press.

Ed Martin, a defense attorney who represented three men charged in the Jan. 6 riots, was recently appointed as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. 

Martin filed a motion Friday to remove all remaining conditions imposed on commuted Jan. 6 defendants, including restrictions that barred certain individuals from entering Washington, D.C., or the U.S. Capitol building.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrived for his first day at the Pentagon on Monday with a message regarding the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) mission. 

Greeted by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and a gaggle of reporters, Hegseth said it was ‘an honor to serve on behalf of the president and serve on behalf of the country,’ adding, ‘The warfighters are ready to go.’ 

Hegseth quickly turned to the border crisis, acknowledging how President Donald Trump was ‘hitting the ground running’ with executive orders declaring an emergency at the southern border and designating cartels foreign terrorist organizations. Hegseth said the DOD ‘snapped to’ last week in sending more troops to aid in erecting barriers along the southern border, as well as to ‘ensure mass deportations,’ adding: ‘That is something the Defense Department absolutely will continue to do.’ 

‘He’s made it very clear. There is an emergency at the border,’ Hegseth said. ‘The protection of the sovereign territory of the United States is the job of the Defense Department.’ 

Last week, the Defense Department announced 1,500 active-duty service members and ‘additional air and intelligence assets’ were being sent to the southern border ‘to augment troops already conducting enforcement operations in that region.’

When asked if more troops would be deployed to the border now that he is taking the helm, Hegseth said, ‘Whatever is needed at the border will be provided. Whether that is through state active duty, Title 32 or Title 10, because we are reorienting.’ 

‘This is a shift. This is not the way things have been done in the past,’ Hegseth said. ‘The Defense Department will support the defense of the territorial integrity of the United States at the southern border to include reservists, National Guard and active duty with compliance with the Constitution, the laws of our land, and the directives of the commander in chief.’ 

Hegseth, a combat veteran who deployed to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan, said he anticipated more executive orders from the White House later Monday. Those would include orders to remove diversity, equity and inclusion inside the Pentagon, reinstate troops who were ‘pushed out’ over COVID-19 vaccine mandates and to implement the construction of an ‘Iron Dome for America,’ Hegseth told reporters, vowing to comply with Trump’s directives ‘rapidly and quickly.’ 

‘Every moment I am here I am thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning, in Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites and aircraft carriers,’ Hegseth said. ‘Our job is lethality and readiness and warfighting.’ 

‘We hold people accountable. I know the chairman agrees with that,’ Hegseth, who most recently was a Fox News host before Trump nominated him to lead the Defense Department, continued. ‘The lawful orders of the President of the United States will be executed in this Defense Department swiftly and without excuse. We will be no better friend to our allies and no stronger adversary for those who want to test us and try us.’ 

When asked about a wristband he was wearing, Hegseth said he wore it every day to remember Jorge Oliveira, a soldier he served with in Guantánamo Bay when he was a platoon leader. Oliveira was later killed in Afghanistan while Hegseth was there in a separate unit. 

‘It’s these guys that we do this for. Those who have given the ultimate sacrifice,’ Hegseth said. 

The secretary was also asked about assistance for Afghans who worked with the U.S. government. Last week, Trump issued an executive order pausing all U.S. foreign development aid for 90 days pending an assessment into whether the funds align with his administration’s foreign policy. Reuters reported that flights for approximately 40,000 Afghans who were approved for special visas following former President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal have been suspended as a result. 

‘We are going to make sure there is accountability for what happened in Afghanistan, and we stand by our allies,’ Hegseth said. 

President Donald Trump said he was open to potentially rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO), just days after he signed a Day One executive order that withdrew the U.S. from the international group.

During a rally at Circa Resort & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas, the president told those in attendance that it was unfair a country like China, with a population much greater than the U.S., was only paying a fraction of what the U.S. was paying annually to the WHO.

‘We paid $500 million a year and China paid $39 million a year despite a much larger population. Think of that. China’s paying $39 million to have 1.4 billion people, we pay $500 million we have – no one knows what the hell we have, does anyone know? We have so many people pouring in we have no idea,’ Trump told rally goers on Saturday.

‘They offered me at $39 million, they said ‘We’ll let you back in for $39 million,’ they’re going to reduce it from [$500 million] to [$39 million], and I turned them down, because it became so popular I didn’t know if it would be well received even at [$39 million], but maybe we would consider doing it again, I don’t know, they have to clean it up a bit.’

An analysis of national contributions to the WHO from NPR found that the U.S. pays for roughly 10% of the WHO’s budget, while China pays about 3%.

Trump withdrew the U.S. from the WHO in an executive order issued hours after he was sworn into office last week. The president cited reasons such as WHO’s ‘mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic,’ the ‘failure to adopt urgently needed reforms,’ and ‘unfairly onerous payments’ forced on the U.S. During Trump’s first term, in July 2020, he took steps to withdraw the U.S. from the WHO but his successor, former President Joe Biden, eventually reinstated the nation’s participation in the global health initiative.

The president’s complaints about the U.S. paying too much to the WHO mirror his complaints about U.S. participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well. During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Trump said he was asking all NATO nations to contribute 5% of their gross domestic products to NATO defense spending.

NATO set a threshold of 2% that countries must pay in 2014, but, according to Trump, ‘most nations didn’t pay’ until he began pushing for other countries to contribute more. Still, according to NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte, countries like Spain, Italy and Canada have yet to even meet that 2% contribution. 

Following Trump’s demands that NATO members spend 5% of their gross domestic product, he questioned whether the U.S. should be spending anything on NATO at all, telling reporters from the Oval Office that the U.S. was protecting NATO members, but those same members are ‘not protecting us.’

‘I’m not sure we should be spending anything, but we should certainly be helping them,’ Trump said from the Oval Office. 

The White House declined to comment for purposes of this story. 

Female Republicans in Congress are fighting to change the decadeslong narrative that paints Democrats as the party of women, hoping it transcends to significant gains in future elections.

‘We’ve got to get back to our roots of being the party of women,’ Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. ‘I don’t know why we ever allowed the Democrats to hijack the narrative and claim to be the party of women. That’s bull.’

Other GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital about this story noted that cost of living, a cornerstone issue for Republicans in the last election, was as much a women’s issue as anyone else’s.

Republicans have also passed several bills since winning that election that have put women at the focus of conservative policy changes on transgender youth and border security.

‘You should not let the Democrat Party tell you they’re the party of women if they can’t even define what a woman is. So we are going to continue to be strong advocates for young women and girls, whether that’s in professional spaces, in bathrooms or in sports,’ said Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, referencing a recently passed bill keeping biological male student athletes out of girls’ sports teams and locker rooms.

Hinson said she is ‘a working mom fighting for other working moms.’

‘Women are oftentimes the most important decision makers in a household, for example. So, when I’m thinking about economic indicators, how are we going to get more women in the workforce? How can we empower more women and families? How can we support more women in sports?’ Hinson posed.

Historically, Malliotakis pointed out, it was Republicans who led passage of the 19th Amendment that secured women the right to vote. She also pointed out that it was under President Donald Trump that a museum dedicated to women’s history was authorized.

‘President Trump authorized in 2020 the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum. And Joe Biden did nothing with it for four years,’ Malliotakis said. ‘ ‘I’ve been pushing a land transfer for the Smithsonian women’s museum to be built, and I think it makes total sense that we would be the party that would do this, considering our history.’

As a voting bloc, women have favored Democrats and the left in recent history.

Democrats have also blamed Republicans for the conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, a move that did appear to translate to electoral success in the 2022 midterms.

Progressives were also historically the biggest supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment, legislation that was pushed primarily during the second-wave feminist movement.

However, Republican women like Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are now arguing that bills like hers, which would deport illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes against women and other Americans, are what it takes to protect women.

‘MAGA is the new feminist,’ Mace wrote on X this month.

Additionally, Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., one of the few Republican women in the 119th Congress’ freshmen class, pointed out that her own story was a testament to GOP meritocracy.

‘I was the largest vote-getter in my whole state out of anybody, as a woman, as the first congresswoman in our state. So I think more than anything else, people want folks who are primed for the job, who are competent and ready,’ Fedorchak said.

‘The cost of everything, making ends meet, helping women manage their multiple roles, getting government out of their lives, helping reinforce the role of parents…these are things that are women’s issues.’

Sen. Mike Lee is continuing to call for the abolition of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

‘Tired of being groped every time you travel? Abolish TSA,’ the senator said in a recent post on X.

‘Make Airport Security Free Of Sexual Assault Again,’ Lee said in another tweet, adding, ‘Abolish TSA.’

In another post, he suggested that President Donald Trump should eliminate the TSA.

Lee suggests that instead of TSA, airlines could handle passenger screening.

‘You may be required to undergo a pat-down procedure if the screening technology alarms, as part of unpredictable security measures, for enhanced screening, or as an alternative to other types of screening, such as advanced imaging technology screening,’ according to the TSA website. ‘A pat-down may include inspection of the head, neck, arms, torso, legs, and feet. This includes head coverings and sensitive areas such as breasts, groin, and the buttocks.’

The agency was established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

‘The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by the 107th Congress and signed on November 19, 2001, established TSA,’ according to the TSA’s website.

Lee advocated the idea of nixing TSA last year as well.

‘It’s time to abolish the TSA. Airlines can and will secure their own planes if a federal agency doesn’t do it for them. They’ll do it better than TSA, without undermining the Constitution and with less groping—showing more respect for passengers,’ the senator declared in a post last year on March 11.

Days later, Lee indicated that he had been subjected to a TSA pat down.

‘Update: days after calling to abolish TSA, I got ‘randomly selected’ for the needlessly slow, thorough TSA screening & patdown. Maybe it’s a coincidence. Or not. Impossible to know. That’s part of the problem with having a federal agency in charge of airport security,’ he tweeted on March 14, 2024.

In December, the senator shared a video of a man being subjected to a pat down.

‘It’s unsettling knowing that the TSA does this countless times every day, constantly conducting needlessly invasive, warrantless, suspicion-less searches of law-abiding Americans,’ Lee wrote when sharing the video. ‘Please share if you’d like to abolish TSA,’ he added.

Two of President Donald Trump’s most vulnerable administration picks will get back-to-back confirmation hearings in the Senate this week. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, whom he selected to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI), will have committee confirmation hearings on Wednesday and Thursday. 

On Wednesday, Kennedy will have his first hearing with the Senate Finance Committee, who will eventually vote on whether to advance his nomination to the full Senate. He will have an additional hearing on Thursday with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), but that committee will not have a vote on the nomination. 

Gabbard’s hearing with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will take place Thursday morning. 

The two Trump picks were some of the more controversial administration selections. Both Kennedy and Gabbard are former Democrats with histories of policy positions that clash with what many Republican senators believe. 

At issue for lawmakers on both sides is Kennedy’s history of significant criticism of vaccines and vaccination programs. For some Republicans whose states have a large farming constituency, his positions on further regulating agriculture and food production have been cause for concern. 

Gabbard’s past policy stances as they relate to national security have given bipartisan lawmakers some reason for pause, since the role she is nominated for is critical to the nation’s safety and defense. 

Both of the nominees have taken steps to moderate themselves amid the confirmation process. Kennedy has pushed back on suggestions that he is ‘anti-vaccine’ and explained, ‘If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away.’

‘People ought to have choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information,’ he said in an interview with NBC News. ‘So I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.’

Gabbard recently made a remarkable reversal on a controversial intelligence tool used by the government. And her choice to change her position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) section 702 managed to win her the backing of a Republican senator on the intel committee that she will need to advance out of. 

Recently asked whether her change of heart on section 702 had earned his vote, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said, ‘Yeah, I am, and that was a very important piece for me.’

While both nominees have gotten some necessary Republican backing in the relevant committees, not everyone has said whether they will vote to advance the selections. And even if they are voted out of the committees, they could still face an uphill battle to be confirmed by the full Senate. 

House Republicans are flying down to South Florida this week for their annual issues conference, where President Donald Trump is expected to speak with lawmakers hashing out the GOP agenda for the next two years.

It’s another sign of the House GOP conference’s push for unity with Trump that the conference is being held at Trump National Doral, his golf course and resort near Miami.

‘He’s going to come and address the Republicans there, and we’re looking forward to that,’ Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., confirmed to reporters last week.

Trump has made no secret of his intent to keep a close eye on the Republican majorities in the House and Senate this year, particularly as they discuss how to use their numbers to pass a massive conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process.

By reducing the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to a 51-seat simple majority, reconciliation allows a party in control of both congressional chambers to enact sweeping changes, provided they’re relevant to budgetary and fiscal policy.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are also contending with the debt ceiling being reinstated this month after it was temporarily suspended in a bipartisan deal during the Trump administration.

And coming on March 14 is the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown, which Congress has extended twice since the end of the previous fiscal year on Oct. 1.

‘I think obviously everyone is ready to get to work,’ Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. ‘With President Trump’s inauguration behind us, now we’re focused on the task at hand – everything from the border to the tax package, energy and defense and national security, and our debt. What we need to do over the next two years to really fulfill the agenda that we laid out for the American people.’

Lawler said he anticipated reconciliation would be a key focus of Trump’s remarks.

With razor-thin margins in the House and Senate, Republicans can afford few dissenters if they are going to get to the finish line. 

Lawler is one of several Republicans who have drawn red lines in the discussions, vowing not to vote for a reconciliation bill that does not lift state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps – limits that have put a strain on suburban districts outside major cities.

He was realistic about setting expectations for their short Florida trip but was optimistic Republicans would eventually come together.

‘I think we’re in the middle of the process and, you know, this is obviously not going to be resolved over these three days,’ Lawler said. ‘But this is, I think, an important opportunity for everyone to really sit down and spend their time going through a lot of these issues.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to allow the Trump administration to review if the money puts ‘America First.’

On Sunday, the State Department released a statement about falling in step with President Donald Trump’s executive order to reevaluate and realign foreign aid from the U.S.

‘Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary [Marco] Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,’ the statement read. ‘He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda. President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.’

The statement continued, saying the review and alignment of foreign assistance on behalf of taxpayers is a ‘moral imperative,’ adding that Rubio is proud to protect America’s investment ‘with a deliberate and judicious review’ of how the money is spent on aiding foreign countries overseas.

‘The implementation of this Executive Order and the Secretary’s direction furthers that mission,’ the statement read. ‘As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, ‘Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?’’

The announcement comes after the Trump administration ordered staffers with USAID to stop providing foreign aid worldwide or face ‘disciplinary action’ for not complying.

Reuters reported that the Trump administration sent a sharply-worded memo to more than 10,000 staff members at USAID on Saturday, offering a ‘stop-work’ directive from Friday that put a freeze on U.S. foreign aid around the world.

The wire service reviewed the memo and said it laid out expectations for the workforce on how to achieve Trump’s goals to put ‘America First.’

‘We have a responsibility to support the President in achieving his vision,’ Ken Jackson, assistant to the administrator for management and resources wrote in the internal memo, titled ‘Message and Expectation to the Workforce.’

‘The President has given us a tremendous opportunity to transform the way we approach foreign assistance for decades to come,’ the memo added. Reuters reported that it confirmed the authenticity of the memo with several sources.

Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign aid just hours after taking office, to review if the funding was in line with his foreign policy priorities.

On Friday, the State Department issued a pause on aid worldwide.

The U.S. is the largest donor of aid globally. During fiscal year 2023, the U.S. dispersed $72 billion in assistance. It also provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024.

Fox News Digital has reached out to USAID for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump pushed back on Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday after Petro’s regime refused to allow U.S. deportation flights to land in his country.

The U.S. had sent two flights of Colombian illegal aliens from the U.S. this weekend as part of Trump’s burgeoning deportation program. Petro argued on X that the U.S. cannot ‘treat Colombian migrants as criminals,’ leading to backlash from Trump.

‘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. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,’ Trump wrote on social media.

‘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 the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,’ Trump continued.

Trump’s says he has ordered a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia, a tariff that will rise to 50% after one week. He also ordered a travel ban and Visa revocations for all Colombian government officials, including their ‘allies and supporters.’

He also ordered enhanced Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections of ‘all Colombian nationals and cargo.’

 
‘These measures are just the beginning. 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 warned.

A senior Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that the orders were a ‘clear message’ that countries have ‘an obligation to accept repatriation flights.’

Petro has yet to respond directly to Trump’s retaliation on Sunday. He initially condemned the migrant flights, however.

‘The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. 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,’ Petro wrote.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has warned that the administration’s deportation program is just getting started. Officials are currently targeting illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes, but Homan says everyone who has entered the country illegally will soon be ‘on the table.’