Columbia University’s president had already been hounded out of office, but her ordeal wasn’t over.

Four days after she stepped down under government pressure during fraught federal funding negotiations, Katrina Armstrong spent three hours being deposed by a government attorney in Washington, D.C. The lawyer grilled Armstrong over whether she had done enough to protect Jewish students against antisemitism. 

For Donald Trump, the confrontations are the point.

In his first week back in the Oval Office, Trump has quickly torn up his predecessor’s alliance-driven foreign policy in favor of an even more rambunctious 2.0 version of “America First.” His provocations have raised tensions with key allies on multiple continents — and set up showdowns with other leaders that, at least politically, Trump will win regardless of how they respond. That was true of this weekend’s skirmish with Colombia, in which tensions over the return of migrants nearly sparked a trade war.

The showdown between the Trump administration and Colombia over deported migrants is over, but what happens to the tariffs the president threatened to impose? And much-needed rain in Southern California brings new concerns to the region. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.

The Trump administration claimed a quick and decisive victory after Colombia agreed to allow the U.S. to transport repatriated migrants back to the South American country.

The United States and Colombia averted a trade war, for now, after the White House said late Sunday that Bogotá agreed to accept deportation flights from the United States.

The two nations had spent much of the day in a tense standoff, with President Donald Trump threatening to impose steep tariffs and visa restrictions on Colombia after the South American nation turned away two deportation flights.

President Trump was triumphant in getting Colombia to accept deportees from the United States late Sunday after the Colombian president railed against Mr. Trump’s tariff and visa restriction threats because of the rejection of migrant planes.

The White House claimed victory in a showdown with Colombia over accepting flights of deported migrants from the U.S. on Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump threatened steep tariffs on imports and other sanctions on the longtime U.S. partner.