After months of sharp exchanges and threats, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and US President Donald Trump struck a conciliatory tone at the White House, praising talks on drug cooperation, sanctions relief and trade mediation
Colombian President Gustavo Petro and US President Donald Trump struck a calmer, friendlier tone on Tuesday, signalling an easing of tensions after months of sharp exchanges and threats.
“My impression of the meeting a few hours ago is first and foremost that it was positive,” Petro told reporters after holding closed-door talks with Trump at the White House.
Trump, who in recent months had accused Petro of
fuelling cocaine flows into the United States and warned him to “watch his ass” following the fall of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, also struck a notably warm note.
“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, and we got along very well,” Trump said at the White House hours after the meeting ended.
The US president said both sides were now “working on” cooperation to combat drug trafficking and were also discussing the possibility of lifting US sanctions imposed on Colombia.
Concerns in Bogotá that Petro might face one of Trump’s confrontational Oval Office showdowns were eased when reporters were excluded from the talks. Instead, Petro’s office released photographs showing a relaxed atmosphere.
“You are great,” Trump wrote to Petro while signing a copy of his 1987 book Art of the Deal, according to images shared by the Colombian president’s office.
Despite their ideological differences, Petro returned the praise. “The truth is I like straightforward Americans, people who say what they feel. We’re different, undoubtedly, by a lot. But frankness comes first,” he said.
Photographs showed the two leaders seated in gold chairs in the Oval Office alongside US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and senior Colombian officials. They were also pictured exchanging a warm handshake in the West Wing colonnade.
Petro said Trump had agreed to mediate Colombia’s escalating trade dispute with Ecuador, after the two neighbours imposed 30 percent tariffs on each other over disagreements linked to drug trafficking.
From frosty rhetoric to softer reset
The warmer mood in Washington stood in stark contrast to the bad blood that had defined ties between the two leaders, ideological opposites who had spent months trading sharp words.
Petro had earlier defended Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and slammed US air strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats, while Trump repeatedly urged Colombia to step up its crackdown on drugs.
The tone began to shift after an unexpectedly friendly phone call on January 7. “I mean, he’s been very nice over the last month or two,” Trump said ahead of the visit, hinting at a quiet reset.
Petro echoed that sentiment on X, saying he was “determined to continue strengthening the relationship between two nations that share a common goal: the fight against drug trafficking,” while stressing an approach that “prioritizes life and peace in our territories.”
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