WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump abruptly changed his tune on his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, on Wednesday, saying they had exchanged a friendly phone call and he had even invited the South American country’s leader to the White House.

“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 have had,” Trump posted on his social network. “I appreciate your call and your tone, and I look forward to meeting you in the near future.” He said that meeting would take place at the White House.

That came just days after Trump said, following the U.S. operation to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, that “Colombia is also very sick” and accused Petro of “manufacturing cocaine and selling it to the United States.”

In comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump added of Petro: “He won’t be doing it for a long time, let me tell you.” When asked if a US intervention was possible, Trump responded: “Sounds good to me.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro looks on during a swearing-in ceremony for new military commanders at the army academy in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Vega)
Colombian President Gustavo Petro looks on during a swearing-in ceremony for new military commanders at the army academy in Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Vega)

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Trump’s sudden sympathy for Petro is especially surprising since the Colombian president called the US operation in Venezuela an “abhorrent” violation of Latin American sovereignty and suggested that it was committed by “enslavers” and constituted a “spectacle of death” comparable to the bombing of Guernica, Spain, by Nazi Germany in 1937.

Before Trump’s conciliatory position, tensions between the United States and Colombia had been increasing for months.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions in October on Petro, his family and a member of his government over allegations of involvement in global drug trafficking. Colombia is considered the epicenter of global cocaine trafficking.

Trump began his months-long pressure campaign on Maduro by ordering dozens of lethal strikes against suspected drug trafficking ships launched from Venezuela in the Caribbean. He eventually expanded operations to also target suspicious vessels in the eastern Pacific that came from Colombia.

In September, the United States added Colombia, the largest recipient of American assistance in the region, to a list of nations that did not cooperate in the drug war for the first time in nearly 30 years. The designation led to a drastic reduction in US assistance to the country.

“It has cocaine mills and factories,” Trump said of Petro on Sunday. “He’s not going to do it.”