White House: Trump Colombia trip is off, still attending G20

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has for a second time called off a planned trip to Colombia.

The White House said Friday that Trump’s schedule “will not allow him” to visit the South American ally later this year. It did not specify what the scheduling problem was.

Trump had been scheduled to visit Colombia in conjunction with a trip to the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later this year. He still plans to attend the G20 meetings.

Trump also had been scheduled to visit Colombia last April. He called off that trip to monitor the U.S. response to the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons.

The White House, in a statement, called Colombia “one of our closest partners in Latin America.” It noted that Trump met with Colombian President Iván Duque on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in September, and said he “looks forward to future opportunities to engage.”