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President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his criticism of Colombia, calling its far-left president, Gustavo Petro, a “lunatic” and the “worst president they’ve ever had” as he reiterated his vow to cut off all funding to the Latin American country over its cocaine production.
Trump’s incendiary comments came while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. The president said he was stopping all payments to Colombia because the country was producing drugs rather than fighting them.
“They make drugs, they refine drugs, they make cocaine, they have cocaine factories,” Trump said. “They have no fight against drugs, and I’m stopping all payments to Colombia because they don’t have anything to do with their fight against drugs.”
The president’s rhetoric marked a sharper, more personal attack on Petro, whom he had earlier accused of being an “illegal drug leader” and “encouraging the massive production of narcotics” across the country.
Trump said that he would announce new tariffs on Monday, confirming an X post from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who wrote: “President Trump … informed me that he is going to be hitting Colombia, not only their drug dealers and traders, but also where it hurts, in the wallet. He will be announcing major Tariffs against the Country of Colombia, today or tomorrow.”
In a Truth Social post earlier Sunday, Trump warned that Petro “better close up” drug operations “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”
Trump said that Petro had “a fresh mouth toward America.” He complained that drug smuggling continues “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,” he added.
The heated words come amid escalating tensions between Washington and one of its closest Latin American allies.
Petro fired back on X, saying Trump’s claims distort Colombia’s record.
“Trying to promote peace in Colombia is not being a drug trafficker,” Petro wrote. He suggested that Trump was being deceived by his advisers, described himself as “the main enemy” of drugs in his country and said Trump was being “rude and ignorant toward Colombia.”
Colombia’s Foreign Ministry accused Trump of threatening the country’s sovereignty, calling his remarks an “illegal intervention.” Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez added that the armed forces have “also lost men and women fighting drug trafficking.”
Trump’s latest broadside against Petro raises the possibility of an expanding clash in Latin America, where the U.S. has already increased pressure on neighboring Venezuela and its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
U.S. forces have stepped up counternarcotics operations across the Caribbean, deploying ships and surveillance aircraft as part of a broader crackdown on trafficking networks. Trump also authorized covert operations inside Venezuela.
Unlike Venezuela, Colombia remains Washington’s top regional aid recipient, though funding has fallen to roughly $230 million this year – well below earlier peaks topping $700 million, per U.S. budget data. More cuts could affect military cooperation and undermine efforts to fight rebel groups.
But coca cultivation reached an all-time high last year, according to the United Nations, and there has been fresh violence in rural areas where the government spent years battling insurgents before reaching a peace deal a decade ago.
In September, the Trump administration accused Colombia of failing to cooperate in the drug war, although at the time Washington issued a waiver of sanctions that would have triggered aid cuts.
Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has repeatedly feuded with Trump this year. Petro initially rejected U.S. military flights of deported migrants, leading Trump to threaten tariffs. The State Department said it would revoke Petro’s visa when he attended the U.N. General Assembly in New York because he told American soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders.
Petro and Trump have also been at odds over American strikes on boats in the Caribbean. The Colombian president has accused the U.S. of civilian casualties in maritime drug raids – alleging one recent strike killed a Colombian fisherman who supposedly had no ties to drug trafficking.
There have been seven U.S. strikes in the region since early September that the administration says are targeting alleged drug traffickers. At least 32 people have been killed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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