Colombian President Gustavo Petro addresses supporters in a rally he referred to as to protest feedback by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.
Santiago Saldarriaga/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Santiago Saldarriaga/AP
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly modified his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, saying they’d exchanged a pleasant cellphone name and he’d even invited the chief of the South American nation to the White Home.
“It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” Trump posted on his social media website. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.”
He wrote that the upcoming assembly would happen on the White Home.
That got here mere days after Trump stated within the wake of the U.S. operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend that “Colombia is very sick too” and accused Petro of “making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
In feedback to reporters aboard Air Power One on Sunday, Trump added of Petro, “He’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you.” Requested whether or not U.S. intervention was doable, Trump responded, “Sounds good to me.”
Later Wednesday, addressing hundreds of protesters that he had mobilized to rally towards U.S. navy threats, Petro stated he had spoken with Trump for roughly one hour.
“I talked about two things: Venezuela and the issue of drug trafficking,” he informed the group in downtown Bogotá, the place demonstrators had simply minutes earlier chanted slogans towards america at Petro’s behest.
Petro defined to the viewers that Colombian politicians allegedly linked to narco-trafficking misled the U.S. president about Petro’s file to show Trump towards him.
Supporters of Colombian President Gustavo Petro attend a rally he referred to as to protest feedback by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.
Santiago Saldarriaga/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Santiago Saldarriaga/AP
“Those (people) are responsible for this crisis — let’s call it diplomatic for now, verbal for now — that has erupted between the U.S. and Colombia,” he stated.
Trump now all of a sudden warming to Petro is very shocking since Colombia’s president referred to as the U.S. operation in Venezuela an “abhorrent” violation of Latin American sovereignty. He additionally urged it was dedicated by “enslavers” and constituted a “spectacle of death” similar to Nazi Germany’s 1937 carpet bombing of Guernica, Spain.
Colombia has lengthy been amongst America’s staunchest Latin American allies, a pillar of Washington’s counternarcotics technique overseas. For 3 many years, the U.S. has labored intently with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off insurgent teams and increase financial growth in rural areas.
Nonetheless, earlier than Trump’s conciliatory put up, tensions had been rising between the U.S. and Colombia for months.
The Trump administration imposed sanctions in October on Petro, his household and a member of his authorities over accusations of involvement within the world drug commerce. Colombia is taken into account the epicenter of the world’s cocaine commerce.
Trump started his monthslong strain marketing campaign on Maduro by ordering dozens of deadly strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats launched from Venezuela within the Caribbean. He ultimately expanded the operations to additionally goal suspected vessels within the jap Pacific that got here from Colombia.
The U.S. in September added Colombia, the highest recipient of American help within the area, to a listing of countries failing to cooperate within the drug struggle for the primary time in nearly 30 years. The designation led to a slashing of U.S. help to the nation.
“He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories,” Trump stated of Petro on Sunday. “He’s not going to be doing it.”
