Trump Is Inviting Colombia's Petro to White House

President Trump and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, are suddenly talking instead of trading barbs, CBS News reports. The White House says Trump spoke by phone with the Colombian president on Wednesday, days after the US leader described Colombia as "very sick" and Petro as a "sick man" who "likes making cocaine and selling it" to the US—and said the idea of a US operation in Colombia "sounds good to me." On Truth Social after the chat, Trump said he "appreciated" Petro's "call and tone" and that the two agreed to meet at the White House. He said Petro phoned "to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have," and that he looked forward to meeting "in the near future," the AP reports.

Colombia's embassy in Washington called the exchange "constructive" and said the country remains committed to dialogue. The outreach follows months of strain: the Trump administration has accused Bogotá of letting cocaine production surge, slapped sanctions on Petro and his family, and labeled him an "illegal drug leader." Petro, Colombia's first leftist president in decades and a former guerrilla, has sharply criticized the US military presence in the region and urged US troops to ignore Trump's orders during a New York protest, a remark that cost him his US visa.

Tensions spiked further after US forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in an overnight operation this weekend that Petro condemned as "aggression." In response to Trump's latest remarks hinting at possible action in Colombia, Petro wrote on X Monday that he had vowed never to bear arms again, but "for the homeland I would take up arms that I don't want." Following his call with Trump Wednesday, he told a rally where thousands protested against US military threats that the discussion had lasted about an hour, and that he'd explained to Trump his commitment to fighting drug trafficking. "I asked (Trump) to re-establish direct communication between our governments," he said, per the AP. "If there is no dialogue, there will be war."