After Months Of Threats And Insults, Trump Finally Meets With Colombian President

President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro held face-to-face talks at the White House on Tuesday following a year of frayed relations.

The meeting was the first between a South American head of state and Trump following the January 3 U.S. raid in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. 

Unlike most of Trump’s meetings with heads of state this past year, this meeting was closed to the press. Photos released by the White House and Petro show Vice President JD Vance also attended the meeting. 

At a separate event on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that he “got along very well” with Petro.

“He and I weren’t exactly the best of friends, but I was never insulted because I never met him at all,” he said. “We get along great.”

President Trump said he got along “very well” with Colombian President Gustavo Petro during their meeting today, despite months of insults.

“He and I weren’t exactly the best of friends, but I was never insulted because I never met him at all,” Trump said. pic.twitter.com/ETtljfwklz

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) February 3, 2026

After the meeting, Petro posted a photo of a certificate folder featuring an image of the two leaders on one side and, on the other, a note signed by Trump that read, “Gustavo — A great honor,” and “I love Colombia.”

“Gustavo: Un gran Honor.
Amor a Colombia”. Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/1Tl7eIbAPr

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) February 3, 2026

In a separate post, Petro shared that Trump had given him an autographed copy of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal.”

Petro spoke about the meeting in a press conference shortly after, describing his meeting with Trump as “positive.”

Petro said the president also gave him a red Make America Great Again hat, adding that he and the president share a pact “for life.”

A day after the capture of Maduro, Trump said that Colombia is “very sick too” and “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” He added that Petro is “not going to be doing it for very long.” Asked whether U.S. forces might operate in Colombia as well, Trump responded, “Sounds good to me!”

Petro responded to the U.S. raid, calling it an “assault on sovereignty” and an “illegal kidnapping.” In a later post, he implied that he would take up arms if the U.S. military intervened in his country.

“I swore not to touch another weapon since the 1989 peace agreement, but for the sake of the homeland, I will take up arms again, even though I don’t want to,” Petro, who is a former Marxist revolutionary, posted on X.

A few days later, Trump posted that he received a call from Petro, claiming he “appreciated his call and tone.”

“It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” Trump said, adding that they were planning a visit to the White House by Petro.

On Monday, Trump signaled the primary topic in the meeting would be about the “tremendous amount of drugs” being trafficked from Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine.

He added that Petro has become “very nice” after the U.S. arrested Maduro.

“He changed his attitude very much,” Trump said.

Petro is term-limited and set to vacate his office in August.

Relations between the two leaders were already severely strained prior to Maduro’s arrest. 

At the United Nations General Assembly in September, Petro delivered a sharply anti-American address that prompted the U.S. delegation to walk out of the chamber. 

In his speech, Petro accused Trump of complicity in genocide in Gaza and called for criminal charges to be brought against U.S. officials.

“This hall is a mute witness, and an accomplice, to genocide in today’s world. When we believed it was only the property of Hitler, Trump does not speak of democracy, he does not speak of the climate crisis, he does not speak of life – he only threatens, kills, and lets tens of thousands be killed,” Petro said.

Petro went after Trump for authoring drone strikes on boats in the Caribbean that the U.S. government accused of belonging to narco-terrorists who were trafficking narcotics. Petro said the passengers of the boats were only young people fleeing poverty.

“There must be criminal charges opened against those officials of the United States, including the senior official who gave the order – President Trump, who allowed missiles to be fired against young people who simply wanted to escape poverty,” he said.

During the same visit to the United States, Petro also attended an anti-Israel protest, where, according to the U.S. State Department, he encouraged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incited violence. The State Department said it revoked Petro’s visa due to what it described as his “reckless and incendiary actions.”

During the New York City protest, Petro reportedly said, “I ask all the soldiers of the United States’ army, don’t point your rifles against humanity,” and “disobey the orders of Trump.”

Petro responded, claiming he has “immunity to go to the U.N.” and that he is also a European citizen who does not need a visa to travel to the United States.