President Donald J. Trump posted a scathing message on Truth Social on Sunday, aimed at Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
Trump called Petro “an illegal drug leader” who is encouraging the making and selling of drugs.
Colombia is the world’s largest exporter of cocaine. According to the United Nations, Columbia’s cultivation of coca leaves, the main ingredient of cocaine, reached an all-time high last year. The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime said 230,000 hectares (nearly 570,000 acres) of farmland in Colombia were planted with coca in 2022, a 13% increase from the previous year.
In his post, Trump wrote:
“President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia. It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.
“AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA.
“The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc. Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The post appears to be in response to an earlier accusation issued by Petro, where he accused the U.S. of “murder” after it executed a strike against “confirmed narcoterrorists” in September.
Petro wrote on X (translated by Grok): “US government officials have committed a murder and violated our sovereignty in territorial waters. Fisherman Alejandro Carranza had no ties to the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing.
“The Colombian boat was adrift and had its distress signal up due to an engine failure. We await explanations from the US government.”
Funcionarios del gobierno de los EEUU han cometido un asesinato y violado nuestra soberanía en aguas territoriales
El pescador Alejandro Carranza no tenía vínculos con el narco y sus actividad diaria era pescar.
La lancha colombiana estaba la deriva y con la señal de avería…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 19, 2025
Petro has issued several posts on the incident, writing in a Sunday post, “The USA destroyed a family of fishermen in the city that will host the summit of Latin America and Europe. The USA has invaded national territory with a missile fired to kill a humble fisherman, has destroyed his family, his children. This is the homeland of Bolívar and they are murdering his children with bombs. The USA offended the national territory of Colombia and killed an honest, hardworking Colombian. !Let the sword of Bolívar be raised!”
The event in question is the Sept. 15 military strike against “confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela” in international waters.
“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump explained on Truth Social.
At the time, the Trump administration had accused Colombia of failing to cooperate in the drug war.
“Even as it determined that Colombia had failed to comply with its international counternarcotics obligations, the Trump administration issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered major aid cuts, citing vital U.S. national interests,” the Associated Press reported.
Later in September, the State Department revoked Petro’s visa while he was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. The decision followed Petro’s controversial comments during a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City, where he called on U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.
“I ask all the soldiers of the United States’ army, don’t point your rifles against humanity” and “disobey the orders of Trump,” Petro said.
The state department later announced on X, “Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.
“We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”
Petro says whisky kills more people than cocaine. He contends that Colombia has sacrificed the lives of “dozens of policemen, soldiers and regular citizens, trying to stop cocaine” from reaching the United States.
Petro issued a statement on X following Trump’s Sunday post, saying, “I respect the history, culture, and people of the USA. They are not my enemies, nor do I feel them as such.
“The problem is with Trump, not with the USA.
“Simply put, Trump does not understand how millions of young Americans could go fight for what seemed like a foreign cause: the war in Europe.
“Many fought and died there, those young people knew why they were fighting.
“They fought for humanity. The concept of humanity, Trump does not understand it.”
Yo respeto la historia, la cultura y los pueblos de los EEUU. No son enemigos míos, ni los siento así.
El problema es con Trump no con los EEUU.
Simplemente Trump no comprende como pudieron millones de jóvenes norteamericanos ir a pelear por lo que parecía una causa ajena: la… https://t.co/LmBSEDxJ2R
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 19, 2025
