WASHINGTON — Days after President Donald Trump warned that he was open to another military operation in Colombia, President Gustavo Petro was ringing the White House with explanations and promises of a visit to Washington, D.C.
Petro’s call followed Saturday’s unprecedented midnight raid in Venezuela, wherein the United States captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and brought them back to New York to face American justice.
The next day, aboard Air Force One, President Trump told reporters of Colombia: “Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
“He’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you,” the president predicted, and asked if the United States would conduct an operation against Colombia, he responded: “It sounds good to me!”
Petro initially released a statement on the raid in Venezuela on Sunday slamming Trump for his criticisms and arguing that his name “does not appear in the judicial files on drug trafficking over 50 years, neither from before nor from the present.”
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro sings the national anthem during the March for Sovereignty and Democracy against US President Donald Trump’s threats to Petro at Bolivar Square in Bogota on January 7, 2026. (Photo by Luis ACOSTA / AFP via Getty Images)
But on Wednesday evening, Trump posted on Truth Social and shared that he had received a call from Petro.
“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,” the president shared.
“I appreciated his call and tone,” Trump continued, “and look forward to meeting him in the near future. Arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Foreign Minister of Colombia. The meeting will take place in the White House in Washington, D.C.”
During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, The Daily Wire asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the president’s threats to Colombia, and whether Petro should expect a visit from Delta Force.
“That would be a very unwise question for me to answer,” Leavitt responded.