| | | | |  | | By Eric Bazail-Eimil and Robbie Gramer | | 
Some analysts worry the White House’s response to the deportations incident could encourage countries to distance themselves from the U.S., out of fears they may be subject to tariffs and sanctions if they defy President Donald Trump’s will. | John Locher/AP | With help from Connor O’Brien, Marcia Brown and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric The brief trade war between President DONALD TRUMP and Colombian President GUSTAVO PETRO has abated. Yet a bigger national security challenge looms for the bilateral relationship between Washington and Bogotá: what to do about Colombia’s ongoing drug war. Petro, a Marxist guerrilla fighter turned leftist politician, came into office in 2022 vowing to stand up to “U.S. imperialism” and suspended much of Colombia’s collaboration with U.S. anti-narcotics efforts during the Biden administration. But Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict is exploding again and coca leaf farming, a key way insurgents are funding their campaign against the government, reached a record high in 2023. Colombia remains the source of 90 percent of the cocaine that enters the United States A senior State Department official, who NatSec Daily granted anonymity to more freely discuss the sensitive incident, signaled that the Trump administration’s swift, coordinated and forceful response to Petro’s brief block on some deportation flights is a sign of how it will approach other issues too. The official voiced optimism that means there will be continued cooperation on the fight against illegal narcotics. One thing is for certain, per the senior State Department official: unlike under President JOE BIDEN, there will be zero tolerance for Petro backing out of an agreement at the eleventh hour. “The last full year during the Biden administration era of the U.S.-Colombia relationship was nothing but unilateral U.S. olive branches, and we've now seen the results of that. You have a president who’s empowered to think he can pull out of an agreement with the United States,” the official said. “That era is gone. That's no longer going to be acceptable.” The corrosion in ties between Bogotá and Washington has come as Colombia resumes active fighting against the Ejército de Liberación Nacional, the largest remaining group in Colombia’s internal armed conflict and a major player in international cocaine trafficking, after peace talks collapsed earlier this month. A spate of recent ELN attacks in the country’s north killed 80 civilians and displaced over 32,000 people. It’s unclear how Petro may revise his approach to the country’s drug cartels. His government has responded forcefully to the outbreak of violence, but he has yet to say whether he will resume aggressive drug interdiction efforts and seek U.S. help. The Colombian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to NatSec Daily’s request for comment. Some analysts worry the White House’s response to the deportations incident could encourage countries to distance themselves from the U.S., out of fears they may be subject to tariffs and sanctions if they defy Trump’s will. China has increased its ties with Colombia, a fact it was all too eager to relish on Sunday. Chinese Ambassador to Colombia ZHU JINGYANG wrote on X that “we are at the best moment in our diplomatic relations between China and Colombia, which have now reached 45 years."
| | | | Power shifts, razor-thin margins, and a high-stakes agenda. We’ve transformed our coverage—more reporters, more timely insights, and unmatched policy scoops. From leadership offices to committee rooms, caucus meetings, and beyond, our expert reporting keeps you ahead of the decisions that matter. Subscribe to our Inside Congress newsletter today. | | | | | | | REVOKE THE REVOKING: Republicans are bristling at the new Trump administration’s decision to revoke security details for former senior first Trump term officials who have faced threats and assassination plots from Iran. Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.), the chair of the Senate select committee on Intelligence, told Fox News on Sunday that “Iran is committed to vengeance against all of these people” and Trump should rethink his decision. Others piled on, including Trump’s own former vice president. "I was disappointed and concerned,” former Vice President MIKE PENCE told a small group of reporters, including your NatSec Daily team. “I haven't tapped into any of my access to classified briefings, but I've seen open source statements from the outgoing administration that there is an ongoing need for security for those individuals. I hope they reconsider." CRISIS IN CONGO: Rwanda-backed rebels have seized the city of Goma in eastern Congo, escalating an ongoing crisis between the two countries that has displaced some 6 million people and fueled one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. It’s a major setback for the United States. Under the previous Biden administration, senior officials including Director of National Intelligence AVRIL HAINES played an active role with Congolese and Rwandan leaders in trying to halt fighting. The chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. JIM RISCH (R-Idaho) issued a sharp statement over the weekend urging the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group to stop its advance on Goma, but on the executive branch side, so far the Trump administration has yet to issue any statements on the crisis. Kenyan President WILLIAM RUTO, meanwhile, has announced an emergency meeting within the next two days on the new developments in the eastern Congo. FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — FULLY GUTTING DEIA: The State Department has wasted no time in gutting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility training, or DEIA programs, from its work following executive orders from Trump. The Foreign Service Institute, the training academy for U.S. diplomats, has temporarily halted enrollments on all its courses as it conducts a review to purge all DEIA programs from its systems, according to an internal State Department memo that Robbie obtained. That applies to more than 2,100 “course items,” according to the memo. MIND THE MINDERS? New employees called “minders” have descended on the State Department with the objective of monitoring the work of department employees, two people familiar with their presence told Eric and our colleague MARCIA BROWN. (We granted them anonymity to speak candidly about internal State Department matters.) We asked the State Department for more information about the minders’ roles and responsibilities, but didn’t immediately get a response. Drop a line to your NatSec Daily hosts or to Marcia if you have more information. IT’S MONDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s global security team: @dave_brown24,@HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary,@reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, and @johnnysaks130
| | STURM UND DRANG: A network of more than 100 AI-generated websites are spreading German-language disinformation and amplifying pro-Russian narratives in the run-up to Germany’s elections next month, as German non-profit investigative newsroom Correctiv and NewsGuard revealed in an investigative report. According to their reporting, these sites are linked to a U.S. fugitive, JOHN MARK DOUGAN, who gained political asylum in Russia after facing 21 arrest warrants in Florida over extortion and wiretapping charges. German authorities have been warning about the prospects of mis- and disinformation, combined with fresh AI technology, flooding the country with pro-Russia and Eurosceptic views ahead of the country’s upcoming elections. Dougan told NewsGuard and Collectiv: “I am not associated with, or paid by, or work for, or receive any money from the GRU or any Russian government entity. That’s all made up. In fact, I find the Russian government to be rather useless for anything, a bunch of idiot bureaucrats who never get anything done. So, I don’t know why everyone thinks I work for them: I don’t. And I wouldn’t have that kind of patience.”
| | DEM QUESTIONS IMMIGRATION MISSION: Rep. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee's Readiness panel, is pressing the Pentagon for answers about the use of military aircraft to deport undocumented immigrants. Garamendi sent a letter late last week to then-acting Defense Secretary ROBERT SALESSES about the Pentagon’s legal authority to support deportations and the impact of diverting military forces from other missions. He argued that "DOD appears to have rushed the process to provide additional military assets" to the U.S.-Mexico border after Trump reentered the White House. "The American people deserve answers about how the DOD has authorized these activities, how the DOD is respecting the laws and norms governing the appropriate use of military assets, and what impacts these diversions will have on our national readiness," he wrote. IRON DOME COMES HOME: Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that would kick start a process for creating a “next generation” missile defense shield for the United States, as CNN first reported. New Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH referred to the plan this morning as an “Iron Dome for America” — comparing it to Israel’s so-called Iron Dome missile defense system. (Sidenote, as our own PAUL MCLEARY points out: Israel’s Iron Dome system is only for short-range missiles, so we assume the Iron Dome moniker is a catch-all for broader air and missile defense systems.)
| | ICC BILL TIME: The Senate is expected to vote on a bill to issue new sanctions on the International Criminal Court tomorrow, as our colleagues MIA McCARTHY and MEREDITH LEE HILL report. Republicans — and some Democrats — have lashed out at the ICC after it issued arrest warrants for top Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza. The bill, if turned into law, would sanction top officials at the Hague-based international court. Advocates of the court who oppose the sanctions say it could stymie the ICC’s work on investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine and war crimes in Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
| | GREENLAND REBUKE: A top Republican senator is apparently so fed up with Trump’s repeated musings of taking control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, she’s offering a multinational expression of her frustrations. As our colleague SEB STARCEVIC reports, Sen. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska) issued a joint statement with Danish lawmaker AAJA CHEMNITZ rebuking Trump’s Greenland threats. “Greenland is not for sale. The question has been asked and firmly answered by the government of Greenland,” they wrote. “Americans must view Greenland as an ally, not an asset. Open for business, but not for sale.” The statement follows a report in the Financial Times last week that Trump had a heated call with Danish Prime Minister METTE FREDERIKSEN where he reiterated his desires to acquire the Arctic territory.
| | — Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.) was announced as the new chair of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel. — TRICIA McLAUGHLIN is now assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She most recently was a PR and political consultant and an ABC News political contributor. She worked on VIVEK RAMASWAMY’s presidential campaign and in the Trump first term State and Treasury Departments. — BRAND KROEGER is now a special assistant to the president in the Office of Presidential Personnel. He served in the Army as an intelligence officer for 13 years and is the former national treasurer of the College Republican National Committee. — CELESTE WALLANDER has joined the Center for a New American Security think tank as an adjunct senior fellow. Wallander previously served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs in the Biden administration. — ADAM STAHL has been named chief of staff at the Transportation Security Administration. He most recently was chief of staff for the corporate security office at Avangrid and is a Trump DHS and CBP alum.
| | — BOB DAVIS, POLITICO: ‘That would give Trump pause’: How to game out the next trade war — PAUL HOCKENOS, Foreign Policy Magazine: Greenland’s door is open for Trump — FAWAZ A. GERGES, Foreign Affairs: Syria’s post-authoritarian trap
| | — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: Energy emergency: Interpreting executive orders on energy and climate — Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: China human rights policy for the new administration Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who always blows up our bilateral agreements at the last minute. Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, whose word we can always trust.
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