Trump, Petro Cool Tensions with “Positive” Phone Call Following U.S. Military Action in Caracas

U.S. President Donald Trump and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro have achieved what appeared to be an impossible feat: reduce tensions and resume positive dialogue between the two traditionally close American allies.

The United States, Colombia’s largest trading partner, has embarked on a relentless campaign targeting Latin America’s drug trafficking networks, striking dozens of suspected drug vessels in the South Caribbean Ocean and the Pacific, killing more than 100 people.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has been one of Washington’s biggest thorns in the side of U.S. foreign policy in the region since the second Trump administration took office in January of 2025.

Petro, a former rebel of the M-19 guerrilla movement, has repeatedly called on the U.S. to cease its aggressive actions in its ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking in the region, accusing the North Americans of human rights abuses and the targeted killings of “Colombian fishermen” in the Caribbean Ocean.

Petro has also accused the Trump administration of risking “destabilization” of the entire region, claiming that the United States is spoiling for war in an attempt to “steal” Venezuela’s natural resources in oil and gold, issuing a warning to the Trump White House in early December by stating, “Do not awaken the Jaguar.”

President Trump, on the other hand, has been equally confrontational in his remarks concerning the Colombian government, accusing Petro of being complicit in drug trafficking, stating:

“Colombia is very sick... and is run by a very sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he is not going to be doing it for very long, let me tell you.”

Trump later warned of strikes in the South American country, responding, “It sounds good to me”, when asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One of potential military operations in Colombia.

On Wednesday, Jan. 7, both leaders confirmed a phone call between the two presidents, with President Trump writing on Truth Social that he “appreciated [Petro's] call and tone”, also announcing that a “meeting will take place at the White House in Washington, D.C.”

Petro also congratulated the Colombian people during a speech in Bogotá amid cheering crowds, stating, “If there is no dialogue, there will be war. Colombian history has taught us that.”

A Colombian official familiar with the phone call told CBS News the call was “very positive”, describing the call as a “180° change” compared with recent rhetoric from both governments.

Another top official in the Colombian government remarked, “We did it!”