Trump calls Colombia's Petro 'terrific' after White House meeting while
downplaying past insults
[February 04, 2026]
By AAMER MADHANI, ASTRID SUAREZ and BEN FINLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump held a nearly two-hour meeting
on Tuesday with his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, that both
called friendly — a dramatic about-face from weeks earlier, when Trump
accused Petro of pumping cocaine into the U.S. and threatened his
country with military action.
Afterward, Trump tried to downplay his past criticisms, saying, “He and
I weren’t exactly the best of friends, but I wasn’t insulted because I
never met him. I didn’t know him at all.”
“We had a very good meeting,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office
during a subsequent event. “I thought he was terrific.”
Petro held his own post-meeting news conference and said the pair
emerged “with a positive and optimistic view.” He said, “What brings us
together is freedom. And that’s how the meeting started out.”
Make (the) Americas Great Again
Colombia's president said Trump gave him a red “Make America Great
Again” cap and Petro said he wanted to put an ‘s’ on it to make it,
“Make (the) Americas Great Again,” a reference to North and South
America being aligned culturally, economically and historically.
Petro has criticized Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s
Nicolás Maduro. But Trump said more recently that Colombia’s leader has
become more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of
illegal drugs.
Petro said afterward that he and Trump had “looked at ways in which we
can reactivate Venezuela” including through energy projects. Trump said
the pair discussed cooperation in counternarcotics operations, which
Petro echoed, while also noting that there are parts of his country
where drug cultivation can be the only way to make a living.
“If people have no options to eat, and live in the jungle, or places
where there is no transportation to produce something legal, what there
will be is drug trafficking,” he said.
Petro said he also told Trump, “You need to go after the kingpins,” but
that there's a belief in the U.S. and Colombia “that capos are the ones
in uniform and (carrying) weapons in Colombia. That's the second line of
drug trafficking. The top tier lives in Dubai, Madrid, Miami.” He said
he provided the U.S. president with names.
Colombia's president also said he'd invited Trump to visit the Colombian
resort city of Cartagena.
“We didn’t talk about personal matters, but I did invite him to
Cartagena, which I told him was a cool and beautiful place to live,”
Petro said. He also said that he'd sought Trump's help in mediating an
escalating trade war between his country and Ecuador.
Trump gave Petro a copy of his book, “The Art of the Deal,” with a
signed inscription reading, “You are great.” Petro posed a picture of
the book on X and wrote ironically in Spanish, “What did Trump mean to
say to me with this dedication? I don't understand English very well.”
Past tensions
Leading up to the meeting, Petro, a leftist politician, had continued to
poke at the conservative 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.
Just minutes before his conversation with Trump started, Petro, in a
video shared by his office, described himself as a politician who has
denounced and prosecuted drug traffickers.
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Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrives at the presidential palace
in Panama City, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Accompanied by one of his daughters and his granddaughter, he
lamented that most of his children live outside Colombia, in exile,
due to the fight he's waging against drug trafficking. “We have
truly suffered its effects directly,” Petro said.
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 of 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 skipped greeting Petro, who came bearing gifts
In a diplomatic gesture, 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.
Trump didn't personally greet Petro upon his arrival and pose 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.
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Suarez reported from Bogotá, Colombia. Associated Press writers Will
Weissert and Moriah Balingit contributed to this report.
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