Trump hosts Colombia’s Petro just weeks after insulting him as a ‘sick man’ fueling the drug trade
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is holding talks with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday only weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States.
U.S. administration officials say the meeting will focus on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts. And Trump on Monday suggested that Petro — who has continued to criticize Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — seems more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia.
“Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” Trump told reporters. “He changed his attitude very much.”
Yet, bad blood between the leaders was overshadowing the sit-down, even as Trump sought to downplay any friction on the eve of the visit.
The conservative Trump and leftist Petro are ideologically far apart, but both leaders share a tendency for verbal bombast and unpredictability. That sets the stage for a White House visit with an anything-could-happen vibe.
In recent days, Petro has continued poking at the U.S. president, calling Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in the Gaza Strip, while asserting that the capture of Maduro was a kidnapping.
And ahead of his departure for Washington, Petro called on Colombians to take to the streets of Bogotá during the White House meeting. He planned to hold a news conference at the Colombian Embassy in Washington after the meeting with Trump.
Petro brought along Foreign Relations Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez, and Ambassador Daniel García-Peña for the talks, while Trump was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who was born in Colombia.
Just minutes before the meeting started, Petro — in a video shared by his office — described himself as a politician who has denounced and prosecuted drug traffickers.
Accompanied by one of his daughters and his granddaughter, he lamented that most of his children live outside of Colombia, in exile, due to the fight he’s waging against drug trafficking. “We have truly suffered its effects directly,” Petro said.
There’s been a shift in US-Colombia relations
Historically, Colombia has been a U.S. ally. For the past 30 years, the U.S. has worked closely with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off rebel groups and boost economic development in rural areas. Colombia is also designated by the U.S. as a major non-NATO ally.
But relations between the leaders have been strained by Trump’s massing U.S. forces in the region for unprecedented deadly military strikes targeting suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific. At least 126 people have been killed in 36 known strikes.
In October, Trump’s Republican administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade.
The Treasury Department leveled the penalties against Petro; his wife, Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia; his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos; and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti.
The sanctions, which had to be waived to allow Petro to travel to Washington this week, came after the U.S. administration in September announced it was adding Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades.
Then came the audacious military operation last month to capture Maduro and his wife to face federal drug conspiracy charges, a move that Petro has forcefully denounced. Following Maduro’s ouster, Trump put Colombia on notice and ominously warned Petro he could be next.
Colombia is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said of Petro last month. “And he’s not gonna be doing it very long, let me tell you.”
But a few days later, tensions eased somewhat after a call between the leaders. Trump said Petro in their hourlong conversation explained “the drug situation and other disagreements.” And Trump extended an invitation to Petro for the White House visit.
Trump skips greeting Petro, who comes bearing gifts
The Colombian president is expected to use the meeting in part to detail his country’s counternarcotics initiatives to Trump. And in a diplomatic gesture amid the acrimony, Colombian officials said Petro came bearing gifts, including a signature Wounaan indigenous basket from Colombia’s Chocó region for Trump and a handmade gown crafted by indigenous artisans from Nariño for first lady Melania Trump.
Following his arrival to the White House, Petro’s office released a photo of Trump and Petro chatting as they walked the colonnade toward the Oval Office. García-Peña, Colombia’s envoy to Washington, is captured in the frame holding a copy of Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal.”
Trump skipped on greeting Petro upon his arrival and posing for a photograph with him in front of the North Portico of the White House before a gathered press, a set piece for most foreign leaders’ visits. Instead, Petro arrived at a side entrance of the White House along West Executive Avenue, minutes before the start of their scheduled meeting.
The private talks were taking place in the Oval Office. The White House indicated the two leaders did not plan joint comments before the press, something Trump typically does at the start or end of most leader visits.
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Suarez reported from Bogotá, Colombia. Associated Press writer Moriah Balingit contributed reporting.