The chairman of a coalition, which successfully lobbied Arab-Americans to vote for Donald Trump, has slammed the new president for his weekend comments on Gaza.

“Arab-Americans for Trump firmly rejects President Donald J Trump’s suggestion to remove – voluntarily or forcibly – Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan,” said Dr Bishara Bahbah, national chair of Arab Americans for Trump.

The statement signals an early sign of tension with a key demographic which helped push President Trump over the line in November.

A critical number of Arab-Americans in places like Michigan helped propel Mr Trump to victory. Small margins in cities like Dearborn and Hamtramck were key to Mr Trump’s success.

The statement, released late on Sunday and described as an “urgent press release”, said: “We strongly believe that the ONLY resolution to the Israel-Palestine is a two-state solution… Arab Americans for Trump thank the President for imposing a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We expect that the President and his team work on the rebuilding of Gaza and launching the process that would culminate in the establishment of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.”

Dr Bahbah, who is Palestinian by birth and has since become a successful American businessman, was pivotal in his efforts to persuade Arab-Americans to choose Mr Trump.

He rallied an army of influencers in a successful “ground game” throughout the election campaign to energise support for President Trump.

He has told Sky News that President Trump personally committed to a two-state solution and that he believes the president has a “contract” with the Arab-Americans who voted for him.

“Mr President, we have a contract….” he said. “We held up our end of the contract and voted for you. We are with you to ensure that your administration fulfils your part of the contract.”

Over the weekend, President Trump suggested that Gaza could be “cleaned out” and that Palestinians could be moved to Jordan or Egypt.

“I’d like him to take people,” the president said, referring to his conversation with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday.

“You’re talking about a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing. You know, over the century, it’s had many, many conflicts. And I don’t know, something has to happen… I’d like Egypt to take people,” Mr Trump said, adding that he plans to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.

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The extent to which Arab-American communities in the US voted for Trump was, in significant part, a consequence of the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza conflict.

The ceasefire in Gaza was seen to be an early validation of their choice but has been quickly cast into doubt by Mr Trump’s comments on Sunday.

As with so many policies and decisions, President Trump’s judgement seems to be set through a transactional prism.

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Dr Bahbah believes President Trump recognises that regional realignment and peace require a resolution to the Palestinian issue, with a two-state solution, and that Mr Trump sees a legacy-defining win in Middle East peace.

However, the last week has shown that American foreign policy can now shift swiftly, and is dependent on an attractive transactional offer or the persuasiveness of the person who manages to be the last in the room with the president.

North Korean troops appear to have temporarily pulled back from the frontline in Russia after suffering heavy losses, a Ukrainian special forces commander has told Sky News.

The commander, who goes by the codename “Puls”, said Kim Jong Un‘s men were likely either learning lessons from mistakes made during their first, bloody clashes with Ukrainian soldiers, tending to their wounded or waiting for reinforcements.

“I think they’ll be back soon,” he said, speaking at a secret base in northeastern Ukraine.

Interviews with several Ukrainian troops reveal remarkable details about how the North Koreans have been fighting since they arrived on the battlefield in the Russian region of Kursk last month. This includes:

• An apparent initial lack of awareness about the threats from drones and artillery, with North Korean soldiers attacking on foot “like something out of World War Two” in groups of 20, 40 or even 60 men, making themselves easy targets

• “Brainwashing” which means they keep pushing forward despite being under Ukrainian fire and with comrades being killed and wounded around them

• A desire to remove evidence of their presence from the warzone, with North Koreans in white helmets spotted trying to recover the wounded and the dead

• A refusal to be taken alive, with claims that North Koreans have been seen blowing themselves up with grenades rather than risk capture. Puls even claimed a North Korean has been heard shouting “For General Kim Jong Un” before killing himself

• Poor coordination between North Korean and Russian forces because of the language barrier. One soldier claimed radio intercepts revealed North Koreans accidentally targeted Russian positions. He also said they would storm Ukrainian positions, suffering losses, but Russian troops would then fail to exploit the gains

• Better kit than many Russians, including rifles and uniform, but a lack of heavy armour, with North Koreans only moving on foot and using golf buggies to transport ammunition.

“They were all clean-shaven and perfectly groomed, like models,” said Puls.

“Every single one – no beards, unkempt hair, or bald heads… It was also hard to determine their age. They all looked between 25 and 35, maybe up to 40.”

North Korean troop deployment not officially confirmed

Ukraine and its Western allies say Pyongyang has sent 11,000 troops to join Russia’s war, focusing on bolstering infantry lines in the Kursk region where Ukrainian troops captured swathes of territory in a daring invasion last August.

Neither Kim Jong-Un nor Vladimir Putin have officially confirmed the deployment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed last week that some 4,000 North Korean soldiers have already been killed or injured.

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Puls commands the 1st Combat Divers Battalion of Special Operations Forces.

His elite commandos were tasked with capturing DNA samples and documents from a unit of about 25 North Korean soldiers who were killed in a drone and artillery barrage about a fortnight ago inside Kursk.

Body camera footage from the mission has been shared with Sky News. Edited clips have also been posted on social media.

Forensic samples taken

Ukrainian soldiers can be seen carefully sticking cottonwool buds into the mouths of dead North Korean troops to take samples of saliva and place them in an evidence bag.

They then remove the troops’ helmets, cutting clumps of hair and bagging them as well.

In addition, body armour is cut away so the Ukrainians can more easily access the documents and other items on each soldier, including military identity cards, dog tags, handwritten notes and photographs.

‘North Koreans only had ammo and chocolate’

One of Puls’s men, who took part in the operation and goes by the codename “Trainer”, said he was surprised that the North Koreans only had ammunition and chocolate as supplies to sustain them in the fight.

“Not a single soldier had a water bottle,” he said.

“They rely on the idea that they will storm through, take positions, and then eat and survive off our supplies.”

Asked what personal belongings he found, Trainer said: “There were letters. Of course, there were notebooks, notes. There were hand-drawn maps… There were photos of children, mothers, letters they tried to send home.”

The military identity cards were Russian – a seemingly clumsy attempt to hide the true ethnicity of the soldiers.

Trainer said some of the notes appeared to be of soldiers’ experiences in battle. He said it seemed as though they were trying to learn from their exposure to modern warfare.

“It’s the experience they are accumulating for their country, for conflicts they might face in the future,” he said.

North Koreans ‘more disciplined’

Puls described how the North Koreans fought differently from the Russians.

“They are far more disciplined, with exceptional morale and determination – completely brainwashed, really,” he said.

Puls said about a fortnight ago he noticed the North Koreans pulling back.

“The Russians are standing, working everywhere along the frontline, but no Koreans,” he said.

“Either they’re analysing their mistakes, or tending to their wounds, or maybe they’re waiting for reinforcements. There’s talk that Kim Jong-Un is sending more North Koreans here. That’s the situation.”

He said intercepted Russian communications appeared to indicate they would be returning.

“They’re still present, training or waiting for reinforcements. Something is happening, they’ll be back soon.”

Donald Trump has won a battle with Colombia after threatening a trade war when the country refused to accept deported migrants.

The US president said he would retaliate with “urgent and decisive” measures – including 25% emergency tariffs on Colombian goods – after the country turned away two US military planes.

Onboard were migrants being deported from America as part of Mr Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

But in a statement on Sunday, the White House said Colombia had backed down.

“The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” it said.

The US leader previously said Colombian president Gustavo Petro’s action “jeopardised the national security and public safety of the United States” in a statement on Truth Social.

The initial response from the Colombian president was bullish. He threatened to respond with 50% tariffs on goods from the US, telling Mr Trump in a post on X: “Your blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world.”

Mr Trump posted a defiant message online: “We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the criminals they forced into the United States!”

His post was quickly followed by an AI-generated image showing the president in a fedora hat, alongside a sign reading FAFO, which usually stands for “f*** around, find out”.

In a statement late on Sunday, Colombian foreign minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said: “We have overcome the impasse with the US government.”

Sunday’s White House statement added that draft orders, imposing tariffs and sanctions on Colombia, would be “held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honour this agreement”.

There was also a warning to other countries. “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump… expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States.”

Before backing down, President Petro had demanded migrants deported by the US should be treated with dignity and respect.

“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Mr Petro wrote on X, noting that there were 15,660 Americans without proper immigration status in Colombia.

Colombia’s decision to block military migrant flights follows a similar one by Mexico, which refused a request to let a US military aircraft land with migrants on Thursday.

There is growing discontent in South American countries as Mr Trump’s week-old administration begins mass deportations.

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On Saturday, Brazil’s foreign ministry condemned the “degrading treatment” of Brazilians after migrants were handcuffed on a commercial deportation flight.

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Brazilian officials ordered the removal of the handcuffs when the plane landed and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) flight to complete their journey, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

Using military aircraft to carry out deportation flights is a response to Mr Trump’s national emergency declaration on immigration on Monday.

Although US military aircraft have been used in emergencies like the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, this is the first time in recent memory they have been used to fly migrants out of the country, one US official said.

Military aircraft carried out two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Friday.