Trump cancels Colombia trip

It's the second time he has canceled plans to visit the South American country. President Donald Trump is scrapping a planned post-election trip to Colombia — the second time he has canceled plans to visit the South American country.

The president was slated to visit Colombia on Dec. 2 and 3 on a post-election travel blitz that will take him on separate trips to Paris and to Argentina, which is hosting the G-20 conference. But White House travel aides sent word in an internal email Friday that the president’s “planned travel to Bogota, Colombia 2-3 December has been canceled.” The same officials said in the note that they were uncertain how the cancellation would affect Trump’s travel plans to Buenos Aires for the G-20 conference, which is scheduled for the weekend prior to his intended Colombia trip. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the president’s travel plans.

Trump has yet to visit South America as president and canceled a previous swing through the continent in April, dispatching Vice President Mike Pence instead. That time, the president said he was staying in Washington to monitor American airstrikes in Syria, though White House officials said the president was unenthusiastic about making the trip.

The decision to cancel the December trip, which was seen as a potential opportunity to refocus the White House agenda after Tuesday’s midterm elections, comes a day after national security adviser John Bolton delivered a sweeping speech on the administration’s policy toward South America, designating Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua a “troika of tyranny.” While Bolton’s speech signaled an intent to increase U.S. involvement in Latin America, the president’s decision on Friday may send mixed signals. Colombia is a longtime U.S. ally, but Trump didn’t visit former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos in his home country before Santos left office in August. The White House has since indicated it sees current Colombian president Iván Duque as a key partner in fighting organized crime and counteracting Venezuela. Trump discussed the topics with Duque in September during the annual United Nations General Assembly.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/02/trump-cancels-colombia-trip-957522