Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at international backlash over the Trump administration’s deadly immigration crackdown, British efforts to balance trade ties between China and the United States, and Senate testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A Militia ‘Which Kills’
Concerns over the deadly actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis have expanded beyond domestic borders. As the United States gears up to attend or host several international events, foreign countries appear increasingly worried that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could have spillover effects.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at international backlash over the Trump administration’s deadly immigration crackdown, British efforts to balance trade ties between China and the United States, and Senate testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A Militia ‘Which Kills’
Concerns over the deadly actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis have expanded beyond domestic borders. As the United States gears up to attend or host several international events, foreign countries appear increasingly worried that the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown could have spillover effects.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE agents will accompany the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics—held this year in Milan—next week to “vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations.” Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, stressed that “all security operations remain under Italian authority,” adding that “[o]bviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.” ICE has previously been present at major sporting events in the United States and abroad, including past Olympic Games.
However, such caveats do not appear to have assuaged Italian authorities. “Bringing to Milan a militia which distinguished itself—this is not my opinion—with criminal acts, which kills, which enters in the homes of American citizens without authorization, I do not think that that is a good idea,” Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala told the New York Times.
Similar concerns have been expressed ahead of the 2026 Men’s World Cup, set to take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico this summer. This week, popular Dutch broadcaster Teun van de Keuken urged citizens to back a petition calling on the Netherlands to boycott the popular event.
“We do not want our footballers, through their performances at the tournament, to implicitly support the policy of violent terrorism pursued by President Donald Trump against innocent immigrants (whether or not they hold a U.S. passport),” the petition states. The document already has more than 150,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office issued a travel advisory on Tuesday for German citizens in the United States. “In Minneapolis and other cities, demonstrations sometimes lead to violent clashes with the migration and security authorities,” the alert warns, adding that Germans should “be vigilant and stay away from crowds where violence might occur.”
And on Tuesday, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry filed a formal complaint with the United States after an ICE agent attempted to enter the country’s consulate in Minneapolis without permission. Video footage appears to show the U.S. agent opening the building’s door. A consulate employee can be heard saying: “This is the Ecuadorean consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.” The ICE agent is heard replying with “If you touch me, I’ll grab you.”
Condemnation from Ecuador is particularly noteworthy, as the Latin American nation is a close ally of Trump and remains one of the primary destinations for the White House’s controversial third-country deportation scheme—a key pillar of the U.S. president’s immigration crackdown.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Diversifying U.K. markets. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in China on Wednesday to deepen trade ties with Beijing. During the four-day visit, Starmer is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Although Starmer told Bloomberg on Monday that the trip is not emblematic of London choosing between Beijing and Washington, analysts say his push to broaden trade relations with the world’s second-biggest economy is part of an effort to become less dependent on Washington amid the White House’s increasingly erratic trade behavior.
Starmer is facing growing domestic pressure to tackle the country’s Brexit-induced economic woes and growing poverty rate. At the same time, though, the British leader is expected to be more cautious than his Canadian counterpart, whose preliminary trade deal with Xi—struck during a visit to Beijing this month—led to Trump threatening a 100 percent levy on all Canadian goods.
To accomplish this, experts predict that Starmer will downplay the United Kingdom’s Chinese imports. However, that may not be enough to satisfy Trump, who is already frustrated with London over its plans to return sovereignty of Diego Garcia—the largest of the Chagos Islands and the site of a critical U.S.-U.K. military base—to Mauritius.
Rubio in the hot seat. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio fielded tough questions on Wednesday during tense testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio defended U.S. operations in Venezuela, sidestepped concerns about regime change in Iran, and dismissed criticism that Trump’s Greenland ambitions are harming NATO.
The bulk of the session focused on U.S. actions in Caracas, including the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3 and Trump’s vow to “run” the Latin American country.
“It was an untenable situation, and it had to be addressed,” Rubio said, referring to Maduro’s rule of the country. Rubio insisted that conversations with interim leader Delcy Rodríguez’s government were “very respectful and productive” and that he expected Washington to reopen a diplomatic presence in the country soon. (The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been closed since 2019.)
Other notable moments of Rubio’s testimony included the secretary maintaining that the “prime and sole focus” of Trump’s Board of Peace is to administer phase two and three of the Gaza peace plan, not to challenge the United Nations’ authority. And he minimized the implications of deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln near Iran—just hours after Trump warned on Truth Social that a “massive Armada is heading to Iran” and that time “is running out” for Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal with the United States.
Reduced sentencing. The wife of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 months in prison for corruption. A Seoul district court found Kim Keon-hee guilty of receiving luxury gifts, such as a Graff diamond necklace and several Chanel handbags, from the controversial Unification Church between April and July 2022 in exchange for promises of political and business favors. However, the court cleared her on two other charges of stock price manipulation and receiving free opinion polls from a political broker.
The prosecution initially sought a 15-year prison term and a nearly $1.4 billion fine on the three charges, but the court ultimately gave her a sentence of 20 months and ordered that Kim only pay back around $9,000 in cash. The diamond necklace was also confiscated.
Kim has apologized for her actions. “I humbly accept the court’s stern admonition and will not take its weight lightly,” she said in a statement after the verdict. Two other cases are still active against Kim, relating to her alleged involvement to recruit Unification Church followers to Yoon’s People Power Party and her alleged accepting of gifts in exchange for government appointments.
The once-powerful South Korean family fell from grace in December 2024, after Yoon issued a short-lived martial law order that ultimately led to his impeachment and arrest. This month, a South Korean court sentenced Yoon to five years in prison for obstructing authorities’ efforts to arrest him, fabricating official documents, and failing to discuss his martial law declaration at a formal cabinet meeting before imposing it. Yoon still faces trial for charges of orchestrating an attempted insurrection, which (if he is found guilty) could lead to the death penalty.
Odds and Ends
India and the European Union agreed to a long-delayed free trade agreement on Tuesday that, once ratified, will affect some 2 billion people. For one EU official, though, the deal is a personal as well as a professional achievement. “I am very proud of my roots in Goa [India], where my father’s family came from,” European Council President António Costa said while displaying his own Overseas Citizen of India card. Costa was born in Portugal. “The connection between Europe and India is something personal to me,” he added.
Great Job Alexandra Sharp & the Team @ World Brief – Foreign Policy Source link for sharing this story.
