President Donald Trump announced a meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro after their feud escalated drastically since the capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Trump’s announcement on Truth Social was of a starkly different tone than in the past week, with the president as recently as Sunday saying a military operation against Colombia “sounds good to me.”
The meeting was arranged during a phone call between the heads of state, which appears to have gone well.
“It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had. I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future,” Trump said.
“Arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Foreign Minister of Colombia. The meeting will take place in the White House in Washington, D.C.,” he added.
Trump’s message is the friendliest he’s ever released about Petro, who is distinguished by having one of the worst relationships with Trump in the Western Hemisphere.
The latest announcement suggests a conciliatory phone call between the two, following months of escalating rhetoric. Petro provided more details of the call in a post on X, but only one aspect where the two are likely to disagree.
He proposed a Pan-American alliance based on harnessing clean energy, which would lead to “global peace and democracy.”
“Using Latin America solely for oil would lead to the destruction of international law and therefore to barbarism and a third world war. The peace of the world would be put in true risk, and we would move to irreversible climate collapse with the extinction of life. The clean energy potential of Latin America becomes a reality with an investment of 500 billion dollars, which the United States has at this moment. That is my proposal. Based on Peace, Life, and Global Democracy,” he concluded.
Petro also attached an AI-generated image of an eagle and a leopard cuddling.
The previous mutual animosity between Trump and Petro is only surpassed by that explained by the heads of Cuba, Nicaragua, and, until Saturday, Venezuela. His left-wing policies and rhetoric have clashed with the right-wing Trump administration, with relations only worsening throughout the year.
Trump has accused Petro of helping narco-terrorist organizations and claimed he allied himself with Maduro. Petro was the first world leader to comment on Saturday’s raid, condemning it in harsh terms.
Petro has accused Trump of inflaming the drug war and being a warmonger. In November, Petro even accused Trump of being part of a “clan of pedophiles.”
In September, Petro joined pro-Palestinian protesters during his visit to the United States but took things a step further by directly calling on U.S. soldiers to engage in insubordination.
“I ask all of the soldiers of the Army of the U.S. not to point their guns at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity,” he yelled at U.S. troops through a megaphone.
TRUMP SAYS COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ‘BETTER WATCH HIS A**’ AFTER ‘STOLEN LAND’ COMMENTS
Washington was angered over the stunt and revoked his visa. In response, Petro said, “I don’t care.”
The scheduled meeting between the two could see a turnaround in relations, as previously seen by Trump in his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
