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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
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Santiago Saldarriaga/AP
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly modified his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, saying that they had exchanged a pleasant telephone name and he’d even invited the chief of the South American nation to the White Home.
“It was a Nice Honor to talk with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who referred to as to elucidate the state of affairs of medicine and different disagreements that we’ve got had,” Trump posted on his social media website. “I appreciated his name and tone, and look ahead to assembly him within the close to future.”
He wrote that the upcoming assembly would happen on the White Home.
That got here mere days after Trump mentioned within the wake of the U.S. operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend that “Colombia could be very sick too” and accused Petro of “making cocaine and promoting it to the US.”
In feedback to reporters aboard Air Power One on Sunday, Trump added of Petro, “He is not going to be doing it very lengthy, let me let you know.” Requested whether or not U.S. intervention was potential, Trump responded, “Sounds good to me.”
Later Wednesday, addressing 1000’s of protesters that he had mobilized to rally in opposition to U.S. army threats, Petro mentioned he had spoken with Trump for roughly one hour.
“I talked about two issues: Venezuela and the difficulty of drug trafficking,” he informed the group in downtown Bogotá, the place demonstrators had simply minutes earlier chanted slogans in opposition to the US 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 in opposition to 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
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Santiago Saldarriaga/AP
“These (folks) are answerable for this disaster — let’s name it diplomatic for now, verbal for now — that has erupted between the U.S. and Colombia,” he mentioned.
Trump now all of a sudden warming to Petro is particularly 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 loss of life” akin 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 a long time, the U.S. has labored carefully with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off insurgent teams and enhance financial improvement in rural areas.
Nonetheless, earlier than Trump’s conciliatory publish, 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 stress 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 japanese Pacific that got here from Colombia.
The U.S. in September added Colombia, the highest recipient of American help within the area, to an inventory of countries failing to cooperate within the drug warfare 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 mentioned of Petro on Sunday. “He is not going to be doing it.”
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