From clash to dialogue: Petro arrives in Washington for key encounter with Trump after year of tensions

By Uriel Blanco, Gonzalo Zegarra, Michael Rios, CNN

(CNN) — After a year of insults, threats, tariffs and sanctions, the leaders of the US and Colombia will meet in Washington on Tuesday in an apparent attempt to put their bitter feud behind them.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro accepted the invitation from Donald Trump last month following a cordial phone call that dramatically reversed their war of words.

The meeting comes at an important moment for Petro. His government intends to prove to Washington that it has an effective grip on drug trafficking following the unprecedented US military operation in neighboring Venezuela that led to the capture of its President Nicolás Maduro, whom the US accused of cartel ties. Petro is also aiming to have US sanctions against him overturned.

The US president said Monday that he was looking forward to a “good meeting” with Petro.

Petro arrived in Washington on Monday using a special visa. His previous one was revoked in September by the State Department after a speech to a pro-Palestinian crowd in which Petro called on American soldiers to disobey Trump.

Here is how their public quarrel unfolded:

Deportations and tariff threats

The US-Colombia relationship is often considered one of the most stable in the Americas, especially in terms of security and defense. But it showed signs of stress as early as January 2025, the month Trump began his second presidential term.

As part of his crackdown on illegal immigration, one of Trump’s first moves was to launch a mass deportation campaign, which included the use of military planes to expel immigrants, sometimes with their hands tied.

Angered by the way deportees were being returned, Petro blocked two of those flights from landing in his country, saying he would “never allow Colombians to be brought back in handcuffs on flights.”

However, Petro backtracked later that day after the Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs and sanctions. Colombia announced that it would accept “all” of Trump’s conditions, including the “unrestricted acceptance of undocumented immigrants” who entered the US.

‘Friends’ of Tren de Aragua

In March 2025, during a meeting in Bogotá, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Petro had referred to members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua as “his friends” and described them as misunderstood people who simply needed “more love and more understanding.”

Petro denied making those comments and suggested the confusion may have stemmed from a misinterpretation of his words due to his limited English proficiency.

Tren de Aragua, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration, is a transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison and has slowly expanded its reach across the continent in recent years.

Decertifying Colombia and revoking Petro’s visa

The United States is Colombia’s main trading partner, and Bogotá is considered one of Washington’s key allies in the fight against drugs and narco-terrorism.

However, the Trump administration said in mid-September that Colombia had failed in its obligations to combat drug trafficking and decided to decertify the country as a counternarcotics partner. Decertification entails a series of restrictions by the US, although American authorities said they would continue to provide funding to Colombia.

The Trump administration blamed Petro for the alleged failures, but Petro insisted that Colombia was helping the US and that drug use was an American societal problem and not a Colombian one.

“The US decertified us after dozens of deaths among police officers, soldiers, and civilians who were trying to disrupt cocaine trafficking,” Petro said.

Later that month, the South American president angered the US after he publicly called on American soldiers to disobey Trump. Petro had been in New York to speak at the UN General Assembly, where he also called Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in Gaza.

In response, the US State Department announced it would revoke Petro’s visa “due to his reckless and incendiary actions.” Petro later claimed that he did not need a visa to travel to the US because he is a European citizen.

Sanctioned by the US

In October, Trump intensified his attacks against Petro.

He called him a “thug” and blamed him for the production of illicit drugs that reach the United States. It came the month after the US military launched a campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific to take out alleged drug trafficking vessels, an operation Petro criticized.

Petro said he would defend himself “against the slander that has been leveled against me” with American lawyers.

Just two days after that exchange, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against the Colombian leader, accusing him of playing a role in the global drug trade.

“Since President Gustavo Petro came to power, cocaine production in Colombia has exploded to the highest rate in decades, flooding the United States and poisoning Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

Petro, who has repeatedly rejected such accusations, said he had retained an American lawyer and intended to fight the sanctions. He also insisted that cocaine production had not increased during his term. “On the contrary, my government has seized more cocaine than in the entire history of the world,” he said.

The list of people sanctioned by the US Treasury also included Petro’s wife Verónica Alcocer, his son Nicolás Petro and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti.

In November, Petro made his bank accounts public to demonstrate, he said, that he has no links to drug trafficking.

Two months of crossroads

The spat between Trump and Petro heated up in the early days of December.

After the US president suggested that any country that trafficked drugs into the United States would be “subject to attack,” Petro warned Trump not to threaten Colombia’s sovereignty. He also invited Trump to Colombia so he could see firsthand the country’s efforts to disrupt the drug trade.

Days later, Trump suggested the US could apply the same pressure on Petro that it was exerting at that time on Venezuela’s Maduro. “He better wise up or he’ll be next,” Trump said, claiming the Colombian leader had been “fairly hostile” to the United States.

Petro responded by saying Trump was “misinformed” about Colombia.

A turning point came on January 3, 2026, when the US military carried out an attack inside neighboring Venezuela and captured Maduro.

Petro initially downplayed the consequences of the US operation, while Trump issued a stern warning to the Colombian president.

“He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States,” Trump said. “So, he does have to watch his ass.”

Trump followed that up by describing Petro as “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

Petro rejected the accusations and spoke of “taking up arms” if necessary to defend Colombia’s sovereignty.

Days later, Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio indicated that she would meet with a representative from the United States to discuss Trump’s threats.

On January 7, the two leaders held an unexpected call that signaled a diplomatic truce.

Petro said his phone conversation with Trump had helped ease tensions between the two governments. He said they agreed to restore direct communication channels but insisted that the US operation in Venezuela was “illegal.”

Trump said he “appreciated” the call and invited Petro for a meeting at the White House, a gesture that abruptly halted months of increasing friction.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said Petro had shifted his tone over the past month or two.

“He was certainly critical before that. But somehow after the Venezuelan raid he became very nice. He changed his attitude very much,” Trump told reporters on Monday.

The Colombian presidency said the meeting would “define strategic priorities and strengthen lines of cooperation.”

Petro’s trip also includes political, academic and business activities, as well as meetings with the Colombian diaspora in the United States. The presidency described it as a “milestone in bilateral relations.”

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Additional reporting from CNN’s Fernando Ramos, Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, Gonzalo Zegarra, Mauricio Torres, Sebastián Jiménez Valencia, Andrea Gómez, Samantha Waldenberg, Alejandra Jaramillo, Patrick Oppmann, Aaron Pellish, Stefano Pozzebon, Priscilla Alvarez, Jennifer Hansler, Diego Mendoza, Todd Symons and Max Saltman.