U.S. President Donald Trump issued harsh threats against his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, after being questioned about a possible U.S. intervention in the South American country while traveling aboard Air Force One.
During the conversation with journalists, Trump directly accused the Colombian president of manufacturing cocaine and said he is considering sending a U.S. military mission to Colombia, similar to the operation carried out on Saturday, January 3, in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
What did Donald Trump say about Colombia and Gustavo Petro?
When questioned about the situation in Colombia, Trump called the country “sick” and launched personal attacks against the Colombian president.
«Colombia is sick, led by a sick man who likes to do cocaine and sell it to the United States», the U.S. president stated.
Trump insisted that the Colombian government operates cocaine factories and assured that this situation will not continue for much longer.
«He has cocaine factories. But he won’t keep doing it for long», he emphasized.
When a reporter asked him directly whether he would consider a U.S. operation against the Colombian government, Trump replied without hesitation:
«Sounds good to me, yeah».
Trump issues new warnings after operation in Venezuela
The Republican leader’s statements add to the warnings issued a day earlier during a press conference in Florida, following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, which included attacks on several locations in Caracas and the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
At that event, Trump once again referred to Gustavo Petro and directly warned him to «watch his ass», intensifying the diplomatic tension between Washington and Bogotá.
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Petro accuses the United States of “kidnapping” Nicolás Maduro
Prior to Trump’s threats, Colombian President Gustavo Petro reacted harshly to the Venezuelan president’s capture, calling it a “kidnapping” and arguing that the United States had acted without legal basis or respect for Venezuelan sovereignty.
«Without a legal basis to take action against Venezuela’s sovereignty, the detention becomes a kidnapping», Petro wrote on Sunday, January 4, on his X account.
The Colombian president also accused Trump of destroying the international order:
«I know perfectly well that what Donald Trump did is abhorrent. They have destroyed the rule of law worldwide».
Tensions between Petro and Trump: accusations of imperialism
Gustavo Petro is one of the leading regional critics of Donald Trump. He has repeatedly questioned the U.S. military deployment in Latin America under the pretext of combating drug trafficking, and has pointed out that Washington maintains an “imperial attitude” in the region.
Although Petro did not recognize Nicolás Maduro’s controversial 2024 reelection, denounced as fraudulent by the Venezuelan opposition, he has remained one of the leaders closest to Chavismo.
Petro orders total loyalty to Colombia over the United States
In a subsequent message posted on Monday, the Colombian president issued a direct warning to the country’s armed forces:
«Every Colombian soldier has an order, effective immediately: any commander of the armed forces who prefers the U.S. flag to the Colombian flag is to retire immediately».
The statement reinforces Petro’s hardening nationalist rhetoric amid the deterioration of the bilateral relationship with Washington.
A historic relationship at risk: The United States and Colombia
For decades, the United States and Colombia maintained a close strategic alliance, especially since 1999 with Plan Colombia, considered key in the fight against drug cartels and the strengthening of regional security.
However, recent threats of intervention, verbal exchanges between Trump and Petro, and the military operation in Venezuela have put one of the United States’ most important historical alliances in Latin America at risk.
