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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that arrangements were being made for representatives of the United States and Colombia to meet at the White House.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that Colombian President Gustavo Petro “called to explain the drug situation and other disagreements” between the two countries, adding that the two leaders are expected to meet in the near future.
“It was a great honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the drug situation and other disagreements we had,” Trump wrote. “I appreciated his appeal and his tone, and I look forward to meeting him in the near future.”
Trump said the arrangements were also coordinated between the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, adding that the meeting will take place at the White House.
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President Donald Trump announced plans for talks with Colombia amid concerns over drug trafficking. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
The announcement came after Trump issued a warning to the Colombian president following a US military operation over the weekend that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
“Colombia is also very sick, led by a sick man who loves make cocaine and sell it in the United States. And he’s not going to do it for very long. Let me tell you,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
When asked by a reporter to clarify his remarks, Trump claimed that Petro owned “cocaine plants and factories.”
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President Trump said military action in Colombia “sounds good to him.” (Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)
When Trump was asked if the United States would conduct an operation in Colombia, he replied, “That sounds good to me.”
On Monday, Petro responded to Trump’s comments by stating that he “take up arms” against the United States if they attack his country.
“Even though I have not been a soldier, I know war and clandestinity,” Petro wrote in an article on X, translated from Spanish to English. “I have sworn not to touch weapons since the Peace Pact of 1989, but for the sake of my homeland, I will take back the weapons I do not want.”
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Trump said Petro was a “sick man” linked to drug trafficking. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Petro also rejected Trump’s claims that he is linked to drug trafficking.
“I am not illegitimate and I am not a narco either,” he wrote. “I only have my family home as an asset, which I still pay for with my salary. My bank statements have been published. No one will be able to say that I spent more than my salary. I am not greedy.”
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Petro, a former member of the left-wing M-19 guerrilla demobilized in the early 1990s, condemned US strikes in the regionwhich the United States says targets ships suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
Ashley Carnahan and Emma Bussey of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
