President Donald Trump suspends military aid and accuses Colombia of drug trafficking, while President Gustavo Petro vows legal action and recalls ambassador
Tensions between the United States and Colombia have erupted into a full-blown diplomatic crisis, with President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro trading a series of verbal attacks and political threats that now threaten to unravel a 200-year alliance.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Trump announced he was suspending all military aid to Colombia, accusing its government of being deeply involved in the international narcotics trade. “He’s a thug and a bad guy, and he’s hurt his country very badly,” Trump told reporters. “They make cocaine, they have cocaine factories … and he better watch it, or we’ll take very serious action against him and his country.”
The comments mark the latest escalation in a weeks-long feud between the two leaders. Trump has repeatedly labeled Petro a “drug trafficking leader” and threatened to raise tariffs on Colombian exports. Petro fired back, calling Trump’s remarks “slanderous” and announced plans to sue him in US courts.
“From the slanders that have been cast against me in the territory of the United States by high-ranking officials, I will defend myself judicially with American lawyers in the American justice system,” Petro said on X (formerly Twitter). He added that Colombia remains committed to fighting drug traffickers, but only “with the states that want our help.”
In a pointed rebuke, Petro also recalled Colombia’s ambassador to Washington and warned that Colombian troops would not participate in any US-led intervention in Venezuela, where Trump has also branded President Nicolás Maduro a “drug trafficker.” “What Colombian would help invade where their own family lives, only to see them killed like in Gaza?” Petro asked.
Colombian ambassador Daniel García Peña, now back in Bogotá, condemned Trump’s comments as “unacceptable” and warned that the historic partnership between Bogotá and Washington was in jeopardy. “Under no circumstances can one justify that kind of threats and accusations that have no basis whatsoever,” Peña told AFP.
The dispute comes after the Trump administration’s September decision to decertify Colombia’s counter-narcotics efforts, claiming it had failed to meet its obligations to combat drug trafficking — despite Bogotá’s cooperation with the US for decades. Petro responded by noting that 17,000 cocaine factories had been destroyed during his presidency.
Adding to the tension, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that American forces had carried out a strike on a vessel in international waters in the eastern Pacific, killing two people alleged to be “narco-terrorists.” It was the eighth attack in recent weeks, with 34 people killed in total, though no evidence has been provided to support US claims.
International law experts have since criticized Washington’s “summary killings” in international waters as violations of due process and international law.
As both sides dig in, analysts warn that this unprecedented US–Colombia fallout could disrupt regional stability, trade, and anti-narcotics cooperation across Latin America — leaving one of Washington’s oldest alliances hanging by a thread.