President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro aren’t the best of friends. Both are loud, obnoxious, and love to be the center of attention. One, Trump, is aiming to strengthen U.S. dominance over Latin America. The other, Petro, was a member of an anti-imperialist insurgent group in his younger days before entering politics and becoming Colombia’s first leftist president in 2022.
They finally met at the White House on Tuesday. It was a session that the U.S. and Colombian foreign policy establishments hope will mend their personal relations after more than a year of the two men being at each other’s throats. Tensions began immediately after the U.S. president returned to the White House. Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Colombian goods and slap diplomatic sanctions on Colombian officials over Petro’s refusal to cooperate with Washington’s deportation policies. Tensions have subsequently focused on U.S. strikes against alleged drug smugglers operating out of Colombia and Venezuela. Trump had certified Colombia as a major drug-producing country and stripped Petro and his family of their U.S. visas. Up until last month, Trump was even talking openly about bombing Colombian drug labs and musing about doing to Petro what he did to former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Fortunately, Tuesday’s meeting seemed to go quite well. The men shook hands, walked along the White House complex, and Petro gifted Trump some Colombian coffee. The White House and Petro’s office shared photos of the sit-down on their respective social media accounts. The mood was relatively jovial. Petro has been one of Trump’s favorite punching bags, periodically referring to the Colombian president as a “drug-dealer” who is shipping cocaine to the United States.
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