| | | |  | | By Eric Bazail-Eimil and Robbie Gramer | | Presented by |  | | | | 
Some of President Donald Trump's policy moves could cause Costa Rica some pain in the future. | Win McNamee/Getty Images | With help from Connor O’Brien, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric When it comes to President DONALD TRUMP’s calls to expand U.S. territory in the Western Hemisphere, it’s not just folks in Washington who are debating whether to take Trump “literally or seriously” on his word. At least one top Latin American diplomat is doing the same. In an interview with NatSec Daily, Costa Rican Foreign Minister ARNOLDO ANDRÉ said that on balance, Trump’s contentious calls to make Canada the 51st state, purchase Greenland from Denmark and forcibly retake the Panama Canal could provoke “unnecessary anxiety.” Yet he also noted they could be signal flares pointing towards broader policy ideas and need to be responded to with some restraint. “We should interpret it with caution and patience because these statements come from the President of the most powerful nation in the world. Thus, the meaning might not have a literal meaning. Rather they might be signals,” André said. “There are statements that could rapidly alter the global order. Thus, we know that we need caution and patience until there's more certainty.” Of course, it’s easy for Costa Rica to brush off some of Trump’s biggest policy pledges. As André acknowledged, Costa Rica doesn’t depend on remittances nearly as much as its Central American neighbors, meaning it’s not subject to economic disruption if mass deportations continue apace in the United States. Costa Rica, unlike other countries in Latin America, also hasn’t courted nearly as much Chinese investment in recent years, meaning it’s less likely to receive significant ire from Washington relative to its neighbors. But other Trump policy moves could cause Costa Rica some pain in the future. Costa Rica is one of the region’s transit countries, through which migrants from the Caribbean, South America and other parts of the world pass on their way to the U.S. border with Mexico. Earlier migration flows in 2023 from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti strained the country’s social safety net. Trump’s migration policies could trap migrants coming from the Darien Gap in Central America and overwhelm small countries’ resources, André warned. If they can’t enter the United States, they’ll trickle back into the transit countries. “There’s an inverse flow of South American migrants who got to Mexico, couldn’t cross the U.S. border and are now returning,” he said. “Thus, Central America could experience significant pressure in the region.” The Trump administration’s ongoing pause of U.S. foreign aid further complicates this migration crisis. “If we don’t find a way to substitute those resources, funding from the European Union, or Asia or Middle East, then the humanitarian conditions of migrants will worsen,” he said. The State Department did not respond to requests for comment about the impact of the aid freeze on U.S. foreign assistance. Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO, however, has insisted funding will go to countries partnering with the U.S. on counter-migration efforts, and he has given Costa Rica a waiver to resume the flow of funding for its U.S.-assisted cybersecurity projects.
| | | | We’ve re-imagined and expanded our Inside Congress newsletter to give you unmatched reporting on Capitol Hill politics and policy -- and we'll get it to your inbox even earlier. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | FOGEL FREED: Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, STEVE WITKOFF, nabbed another diplomatic win today, brokering a deal to free longtime American detainee MARC FOGEL from Russian custody. National security adviser MIKE WALTZ didn’t specify what Russia got in exchange for freeing Fogel, a schoolteacher who was detained at Moscow’s airport for having a small amount of marijuana he was prescribed in the United States for medical purposes. But the move frees Fogel, who was twice snubbed from major prisoner exchanges between the United States and Russia during the Biden administration. The Fogel family heaped praise on the Trump team for their work. In a brief interview with our Daniel Lippman, a lawyer for Fogel’s sisters, SASHA PHILLIPS, gave credit to Trump, Rubio, Witkoff, Sen. DAVE McCORMICK (R-Pa.) and Rep. GUY RESCHENTHALER (R-Pa.) for making the release possible “and for everybody who worked tirelessly behind the scenes on making this happen.” VICKI ISEMAN, a long-time Washington operative who started FreeMarcFogel.net, also said the assistance provided by lobbyist ROBERT STRYK was “invaluable in making this day happen.” Stryk said in a statement that “it was a privilege” to help on the matter. ABDULLAH’S TIMELY VISIT: King ABDULLAH of Jordan is in Washington today, and he’s showing some willingness to consider Trump’s proposal to redevelop the Gaza Strip. Today, Abdullah announced Jordan would accept sick Palestinian children from Gaza as refugees and provide them with medical treatment following a bilateral meeting between him and Trump. The overture follows Trump applying pressure on Jordan to help with his plan to redevelop the Gaza Strip, threatening to withhold billions of dollars in U.S. assistance if Jordan (and Egypt by extension) don’t buy in. All the while, the Israel-Hamas cease-fire appears on the verge of collapse. Hamas has suspended all hostage releases, accusing Israel of breaking its commitments to the cease-fire deal. Israel and Trump, meanwhile, have called on Hamas to release all remaining hostages from the first phase of the cease-fire deal or risk the resumption of active fighting in Gaza. If more hostages aren’t released, Netanyahu’s office has warned cease-fire talks won’t progress further. VANCE’S EUROPEAN ADVANCES: Vice President JD VANCE is doing his best to reassure European leaders that yes, the Trump administration cares about them too. Before meeting in Paris with European Commission President URSULA VON DER LEYEN and European foreign policy chief KAJA KALLAS, Vance emphasized that “the Trump administration has been very clear that we care a lot about Europe. We see a lot of economic relationship to build upon with Europe." "We also want to make sure that we're actually engaged in a security partnership that's good for both Europe and the United States,” he continued. It’s not the only important diplomatic engagement Trump’s top officials will conduct on the other side of the Atlantic ahead of Munich. As our colleague Irie Sentner reports, Vance will meet with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY on Thursday. And Treasury Secretary SCOTT BESSENT will be in Ukraine on Wednesday and will meet with the Ukrainian leader, Trump wrote on Truth Social. CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE: Trump and Musk’s dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development is hitting other agencies too. As our colleague Marcia Brown reports (for Pros!), the U.S. Department of Agriculture put 17 staff from its Foreign Agriculture Service on leave as a result of the fallout at USAID. The 17 employees, whose salaries are primarily funded by the State Department or USAID, lost access to their USDA emails and the agency's broader network at noon Monday. The workers have been mostly engaged in international agricultural development. Read: US border officials tour USAID building amid speculation of office takeover by The Guardian's Joseph Gedeon and Andrew Roth. IT’S TUESDAY: 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, @ak_mack, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, and @johnnysaks130
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| | | | | SLASHING STATE: State Department officials have been asked to produce information and statistics on diplomatic facilities and staff based abroad, an apparent step aimed at reducing the workforce, four U.S. diplomats tell our own Nahal Toosi and Robbie. A number of U.S. consulates abroad could be closed, including some in France, Italy, Mexico and Germany. A person familiar with the internal discussions cautioned that such plans are tentative but said Rubio is on board with major changes, including at least a 20 percent staff reduction. A State spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported some consulates may be closed. The orders for information have been passed along to various bureaus and embassies by mid-level State officials, said the U.S. diplomats, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The requests almost certainly come from Trump administration political appointees and representatives of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The DOGE initiative has already been a key force in putting most of USAID’s staff on leave, though those moves are currently facing legal challenges. DOGE has a number of people also embedded in the State Department. But cutting State staff could be more complicated than efforts at USAID. It is a better-known, more established institution, and Trump’s efforts to slash State’s workforce drew bipartisan resistance during his first term.
| | NOT TO BRAGG: Rep. BETTY McCOLLUM (D-Minn.), the top Democrat on the House panel that controls the Pentagon budget, criticized Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH's decision to change Fort Liberty’s name back to Fort Bragg — arguing he is waging "an unnecessary political battle" and wasting taxpayer funding to change the rename the Army base, our own Connor O’Brien writes in. Hegseth signed a memo on Monday renaming the base, albeit in honor of World War II Army Private First Class ROLAND BRAGG rather than Confederate Gen. BRAXTON BRAGG. The base was renamed in 2022 as part of a sweeping push to remove Confederate names from military installations, which Trump opposed. McCollum praised Roland Bragg's service in a statement, but argued "There are other ways we could have recognized his service to our nation without putting his memory in the center of an unnecessary political battle." She added that the move undermines the renaming push and creates wasteful spending. "I expect that any future decisions by Secretary Hegseth to rename installations, should he choose to do so, will similarly cost taxpayers millions of dollars that the Department of Defense does not need to spend,” McCollum said. One of the GOP sponsors of the original renaming effort, Rep. DON BACON (R-Neb.), said he was "hot" about the name change when he initially heard about it, but said he was fine with the move when he learned of the new namesake. If the Trump administration pushes to rename other bases, he said, lawmakers should "take it case by case." "If it had ben the Confederate General Bragg, there would have been a war, but it's a different Bragg," Bacon said. "I think it's probably a reasonable compromise."
| | SALVADOR ON OSSOFF’S MIND: A Democratic lawmaker is bristling at a new deal El Salvador has proposed to the Trump administration to jail American citizens for a fee, following Rubio’s visit to the Central American country. Sen. JON OSSOFF (D-Ga.) sent a letter to Attorney General PAM BONDI urging her to reject Salvadoran President NAYIB BUKELE’s offer to detain U.S. citizens in his country, as our colleague Myah Ward reports. “Federal law does not allow the deportation of U.S. citizens, and El Salvador’s prisons are internationally notorious for life-threatening and abusive conditions,” Ossoff wrote Bondi. “It would be a moral and legal travesty for the U.S. government to subject anyone to such conditions.”
| | RUNNING AFOUL OF ROME: POPE FRANCIS issued a strongly-worded condemnation of the Trump administration’s mass deportations today, in the latest signal of tensions between the Holy See and Washington. As our colleague Amanda Friedman reports, Francis, in a letter to U.S. Catholic bishops made public today, wrote that “the rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.” He also urged the bishops to reject Trump’s language around migrants. It’s the latest tiff between Rome and the Trump administration. Francis named progressive theologian Cardinal ROBERT McELROY to be archbishop of Washington after Trump named Francis critic BRIAN BURCH to be U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. The administration isn’t sweating Francis’ rebukes. TOM HOMAN, Trump’s border czar, blasted the Vicar of Rome’s remarks in an interview on Newsmax Tuesday morning. “Stick to the Catholic Church. Leave border enforcement to us,” Homan said.
| | — JIMMY RHEE has joined Grayson & Co. as senior adviser for Asia. He was previously cabinet secretary for business affairs in Maryland and assistant secretary of commerce and trade in Virginia. — SARAH MILLER will be staff director for the House Foreign Affairs Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee under panel Chair BRIAN MAST (R-Fla.). She most recently was senior director of public policy for Rising Tide Associates, and worked for Mast previously. — JOANNA KUEBLER is joining America’s Voice as chief of programs. She previously was senior director of external comms at the Women’s Refugee Commission. — KATE LAIR is now deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for public and media affairs. She most recently was comms director for Rep. RONNY JACKSON (R-Texas) and served in the first Trump White House. — KELSIE WENDELBERGER is now a political officer in the Office of Regional Affairs for the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. She most recently was posted in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| | — Sen. TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.), The National Interest: A tech power playbook for Donald Trump 2.0 — Elaine Dezenski, New York Post: How Trump’s war on cartel cash can stop fentanyl enablers — and save American lives — Gabby Deutch and Lahav Harkov, Jewish Insider: The good, the bad and the ugly of USAID’s Middle East funding
| | — House Foreign Affairs Committee, 9 a.m.: Roundtable with families of hostages held by Hamas — The Brookings Institution, 9:30 a.m.: U.S., South Korean and Japanese approaches to economic security — House Armed Services Committee, 10 a.m.: Protecting American interests in a convergent global threat environment — Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: An integrated approach to U.S.-Japan cooperation in Southeast Asia Thanks to our editor, Rosie Perper, who should never be taken literally or seriously. Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who is as literal and serious as they come.
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