Trump to host Colombia’s Petro as drug trafficking expected to dominate high-stakes talks

Relations betwixt President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro person swung sharply from unfastened confrontation to cautious engagement implicit the past year, mounting the signifier for a pivotal White House gathering scheduled for Tuesday.

Once considered a exemplary concern successful the Western Hemisphere, U.S.–Colombia ties are present being tested by heavy disagreements implicit cause policy, information practice and migration.

Speaking to reporters up of the visit, President Donald Trump suggested the code betwixt the 2 leaders has shifted successful caller weeks, portion underscoring that cause trafficking volition predominate the talks.

"I mean, he’s been precise bully implicit the past period oregon two," Trump said during a property availability. "They were surely captious earlier that. But someway aft the Venezuelan raid, helium became precise nice. He changed his attitude. Very overmuch so."

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Trump said helium is looking guardant to gathering Petro successful person, portion making wide that narcotics stay a cardinal concern. "He’s coming in. We’re going to beryllium talking astir drugs due to the fact that tremendous amounts of drugs travel retired of his country," Trump said. "And I look guardant to seeing him. We’re going to person a bully meeting."

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro delivers a code during a unit designation ceremonial astatine the Jose Maria Cordova Military Cadet School successful Bogota connected March 11, 2025. (Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)

Colombia has agelong been 1 of Washington’s closest partners successful South America, peculiarly connected counternarcotics and security. Bilateral practice expanded dramatically nether Plan Colombia opening successful 2000, with U.S. subject and law-enforcement assistance playing a cardinal relation successful Colombia’s combat against insurgent groups and cause trafficking networks. That practice helped stabilize the state and yet led the United States to designate Colombia a large Non-NATO ally. U.S. officials and analysts accidental that instauration has eroded successful caller years amid diverging priorities and increasing mistrust.

Tensions archetypal erupted successful January 2025, erstwhile Petro initially refused to let U.S. deportation flights carrying Colombian nationals to land. The standoff prompted Trump to endanger tariffs, question bans and visa restrictions earlier Colombia reversed people and agreed to judge the flights. The occurrence marked the archetypal large rupture betwixt the 2 leaders pursuing Trump’s instrumentality to office.

Relations deteriorated further successful September 2025, erstwhile Petro traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, participated successful protests and publically urged U.S. soldiers to "disobey the orders of Trump." The remarks prompted the U.S. State Department to revoke Petro’s visa connected Sept. 27, 2025. The pursuing month, the Trump medication announced punitive measures targeting Petro and members of his interior circle, citing concerns astir cause trafficking and information cooperation.

Colombian officials denounced the moves arsenic politically motivated. Trump publically labeled Petro a "drug leader," suspended U.S. assistance and threatened further punitive measures, pushing relations to what observers described arsenic their lowest constituent successful decades.

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Retired subject instrumentality portion successful a rally to protestation economical and societal reforms pushed by the authorities of President Gustavo Petro and his connection to convene a constituent assembly astatine the Bolivar Square successful Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Signs of de-escalation emerged past period erstwhile the 2 leaders spoke by telephone for the archetypal clip since the diplomatic breakdown. Trump aboriginal described the telephone arsenic a "great honor," saying helium appreciated Petro’s code and looked guardant to gathering him successful person. Both sides agreed to restart dialog connected contentious issues, including counternarcotics, migration and trade. Colombia subsequently resumed U.S. deportation flights arsenic portion of broader efforts to stabilize relations, paving the mode for Tuesday’s face-to-face meeting.

Melissa Ford Maldonado, manager of the Western Hemisphere Initiative astatine the America First Policy Institute, said the sojourn highlights however overmuch is present astatine involvement for some countries.

"Colombia remains the astir important U.S. spouse successful South America, but that presumption is conditional, and lately it’s been nether existent strain, mostly due to the fact that of President Gustavo Petro’s tolerance for transgression networks that endanger some Colombian sovereignty and American security," Maldonado told Fox News Digital.

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Members the from the Technical Investigation Board (CTI) inspect packages with cocaine connected a narco submarine seized successful Buenaventura, Colombia connected March 20, 2021. - According to the authorities, it contained respective packages of cocaine, was destined for the coasts of Mexico and belonged to an equipped radical of the dissident FARC guerrillas.  (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images)

She said the Trump administration’s objectives heading into the gathering are apt focused connected restoring what she described arsenic "real cooperation" connected counternarcotics and information aft years of drift.

"Counternarcotics and information practice volition apt predominate the conversation," Maldonado said, pointing to grounds cocaine accumulation and what she described arsenic increasing tolerance wrong parts of the Colombian authorities for transgression networks. She argued that Washington has progressively treated Colombia arsenic failing to conscionable U.S. expectations successful the combat against amerciable drugs.

People displaced by unit successful towns crossed the Catatumbo region, wherever rebels of the National Liberation Army, oregon ELN, person been clashing with erstwhile members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, enactment up to registry for structure astatine a stadium successful Cúcuta, Colombia, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025.  (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Maldonado said the medication has signaled it is nary longer consenting to accommodate governments it believes alteration narco-criminal ecosystems.

"What to ticker going guardant is whether Colombia chooses to course-correct oregon continues drifting toward the exemplary adjacent door, which blurred the enactment betwixt the authorities and organized crime," she said. "Colombia earned its presumption arsenic a large Non-NATO Ally done decades of sacrifice. That spot has been severely damaged, but it is not beyond repair if Colombia demonstrates genuine resoluteness against cartels, rejects governmental screen for transgression groups and realigns intelligibly with the United States connected hemispheric security."

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She added, "This sojourn should marque 1 happening unmistakable: the United States wants a strong, sovereign Colombia. It is successful America’s champion interest. However, it volition not tolerate ambiguity erstwhile it comes to narco-terrorism, determination information oregon the information of the American people," Maldonado said.