President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at Colombian President Gustavo Petro and announced that he is ending payments to the country.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump referred to Petro as “an illegal drug leader strongly encourage the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia.”
He suggested that the drug industry “has become the biggest business in Colombia” and that Petro “does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies fromt he 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! President Donald J. Trump
Trump and Petro have had a rocky relationship even before Trump took office in January. In September, the State Department announced that it would revoke Petro’s visa after he encouraged soldiers in New York City to disobey orders.
The incident occurred when Petro joined pro-Hamas protesters in the Big Apple during a demonstration near the United Nations building. The State Department issued a statement on X claiming Petro “stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.”
Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence.
— Department of State (@StateDept) September 27, 2025
We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.
The two leaders clashed earlier this year when Petro refused to allow US deportation flights land in Colombia. He quickly reversed course when President Trump threatened to impose tough tariffs and visa bans that would have harmed the nation’s economy.
Cocaine production in Colombia reached historic highs in 2023 under Petro’s governance. Production climbed by about 53 percent year over year. There are several contributors to this, including armed groups controlling wide swaths of the country without much resistance from the government.
Now that Colombia is losing US funding, Petro’s administration might kickstart efforts to deal with the increase in cocaine production.
The Trump administration has gone on the offensive to prevent illicit substances from being smuggled into the United States. The president has taken a decidedly tougher approach to Venezuelan smugglers, ordering a series of airstrikes against boats suspected of transporting narcotics to the US. The airstrikes have killed 27 people so far.