After a year of insults, threats, tariffs and sanctions, the leaders of the US and Colombia will meet in Washington on Tuesday in an obvious try to put their bitter feud behind them.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro accepted the invitation from Donald Trump final month following a cordial telephone name that dramatically reversed their warfare of phrases.
The assembly comes at an necessary second for Petro. His authorities intends to show to Washington that it has an efficient grip on drug trafficking following the unprecedented US army operation in neighboring Venezuela that led to the seize of its President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US accused of cartel ties. Petro can also be aiming to have US sanctions towards him overturned.
The US president stated Monday that he was trying ahead to a “good meeting” with Petro.
Petro arrived in Washington on Monday utilizing a particular visa. His earlier one was revoked in September by the State Department after a speech to a pro-Palestinian crowd in which Petro known as on American troopers to disobey Trump.
Here is how their public quarrel unfolded:
Deportations and tariff threats
The US-Colombia relationship is usually thought of one of essentially the most steady in the Americas, particularly in phrases of safety and protection. But it confirmed indicators of stress as early as January 2025, the month Trump started his second presidential time period.
As half of his crackdown on unlawful immigration, one of Trump’s first strikes was to launch a mass deportation marketing campaign, which included the use of army planes to expel immigrants, typically with their palms tied.
Angered by the way in which deportees have been being returned, Petro blocked two of those flights from touchdown in his nation, saying he would “never allow Colombians to be brought back in handcuffs on flights.”
However, Petro backtracked later that day after the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions. Colombia introduced that it could settle for “all” of Trump’s situations, together with the “unrestricted acceptance of undocumented immigrants” who entered the US.
In March 2025, throughout a gathering in Bogotá, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Petro had referred to members of the Venezuelan felony group Tren de Aragua as “his friends” and described them as misunderstood individuals who merely wanted “more love and more understanding.”
Petro denied making these feedback and urged the confusion might have stemmed from a misinterpretation of his phrases due to his restricted English proficiency.
Tren de Aragua, designated a international terrorist group by the Trump administration, is a transnational felony gang that originated in a Venezuelan jail and has slowly expanded its attain throughout the continent in latest years.
Decertifying Colombia and revoking Petro’s visa
The United States is Colombia’s major buying and selling associate, and Bogotá is taken into account one of Washington’s key allies in the struggle towards medication and narco-terrorism.
However, the Trump administration stated in mid-September that Colombia had failed in its obligations to fight drug trafficking and determined to decertify the nation as a counternarcotics associate. Decertification entails a collection of restrictions by the US, though American authorities stated they might proceed to present funding to Colombia.
The Trump administration blamed Petro for the alleged failures, however Petro insisted that Colombia was serving to the US and that drug use was an American societal drawback and never a Colombian one.
“The US decertified us after dozens of deaths among police officers, soldiers, and civilians who were trying to disrupt cocaine trafficking,” Petro stated.
Later that month, the South American president angered the US after he publicly known as on American troopers to disobey Trump. Petro had been in New York to converse on the UN General Assembly, the place he additionally known as Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in Gaza.
In response, the US State Department introduced it could revoke Petro’s visa “due to his reckless and incendiary actions.” Petro later claimed that he didn’t want a visa to journey to the US as a result of he’s a European citizen.
In October, Trump intensified his assaults towards Petro.
He known as him a “thug” and blamed him for the manufacturing of illicit medication that attain the United States. It got here the month after the US army launched a marketing campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific to take out alleged drug trafficking vessels, an operation Petro criticized.
Petro stated he would defend himself “against the slander that has been leveled against me” with American legal professionals.
Just two days after that change, the US Treasury Department introduced sanctions against the Colombian leader, accusing him of enjoying a task in the worldwide drug commerce.
“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated.
Petro, who has repeatedly rejected such accusations, stated he had retained an American lawyer and meant to struggle the sanctions. He additionally insisted that cocaine manufacturing had not elevated throughout his time period. “On the contrary, my government has seized more cocaine than in the entire history of the world,” he stated.
The record of individuals sanctioned by the US Treasury additionally included Petro’s spouse Verónica Alcocer, his son Nicolás Petro and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti.
In November, Petro made his financial institution accounts public to reveal, he stated, that he has no hyperlinks to drug trafficking.
The spat between Trump and Petro heated up in the early days of December.
After the US president urged that any nation that trafficked medication into the United States can be “subject to attack,” Petro warned Trump not to threaten Colombia’s sovereignty. He additionally invited Trump to Colombia so he might see firsthand the nation’s efforts to disrupt the drug commerce.
Days later, Trump urged the US might apply the identical pressure on Petro that it was exerting at the moment on Venezuela’s Maduro. “He better wise up or he’ll be next,” Trump stated, claiming the Colombian chief had been “fairly hostile” to the United States.
Petro responded by saying Trump was “misinformed” about Colombia.
A turning level got here on January 3, 2026, when the US army carried out an assault inside neighboring Venezuela and captured Maduro.
Petro initially downplayed the implications of the US operation, whereas Trump issued a stern warning to the Colombian president.
“He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States,” Trump stated. “So, he does have to watch his ass.”
Trump adopted that up by describing Petro as “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”
Petro rejected the accusations and spoke of “taking up arms” if crucial to defend Colombia’s sovereignty.
Days later, Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio indicated that she would meet with a consultant from the United States to focus on Trump’s threats.
On January 7, the 2 leaders held an sudden name that signaled a diplomatic truce.
Petro stated his telephone dialog with Trump had helped ease tensions between the 2 governments. He stated they agreed to restore direct communication channels however insisted that the US operation in Venezuela was “illegal.”
Trump stated he “appreciated” the decision and invited Petro for a gathering on the White House, a gesture that abruptly halted months of growing friction.
Ahead of the assembly, Trump stated Petro had shifted his tone over the previous month or two.
“He was certainly critical before that. But somehow after the Venezuelan raid he became very nice. He changed his attitude very much,” Trump instructed reporters on Monday.
The Colombian presidency stated the assembly would “define strategic priorities and strengthen lines of cooperation.”
Petro’s journey additionally consists of political, tutorial and enterprise actions, in addition to conferences with the Colombian diaspora in the United States. The presidency described it as a “milestone in bilateral relations.”