‘Got along very well’: Trump hails first in-person talks with Colombia’s Petro, says ‘working on’ lifting sanctions

US President Donald Trump held his first in-person meeting with his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday (Feb 3). Following the meeting, Trump said that the talks went “very well” after months of tensions between Washington and Bogota. He added that the two countries were “working on” anti-drug trafficking cooperation and lifting US sanctions placed on the South American country. Meanwhile, Petro said that the discussions were “positive”.
“We got along very well. He and I weren’t exactly the best of friends, but I wasn’t insulted because I never met him. I didn’t know him at all, and we got along very well,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“My impression of the meeting a few hours ago is first and foremost that it was positive,” Petro told reporters after meeting Trump behind closed doors.

Their meeting came after months of tensions and threats exchanged amid the Trump administration’s crackdown against drug trafficking. The Colombian leader has repeatedly defended Venezuela’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, who was seized by American forces last month. He has also criticised deadly US air strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats.

Earlier, Trump had also suggested a similar operation against Petro after capturing Maduro. However, his stance changed following a phone call between the leaders on January 7.

“I mean, he’s been very nice over the last month or two,” Trump said on Monday on the eve of the visit. “He was certainly critical before that, but somehow, after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice.”

Ahead of the meeting, Petro said on X that during the talks he was “determined to continue strengthening the relationship between two nations that share a common goal: the fight against drug trafficking.”

He added that he wanted to do so “from an approach that prioritises life and peace in our territories,” in an apparent reference to the strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that have killed more than 100 people.