WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro appeared to patch things up Tuesday after having spent the past year trading threats and insults.
What started as a meeting between frequent foes ended with Petro walking out of the Oval Office with a MAGA hat, altered with a pen to say "Make Americas Great Again."
Trump hosted Petro, a former Marxist revolutionary, at the White House for the first in-person meeting between the two leaders. It was also Trump’s first sit-down with a head of state from the region after the U.S. captured then-President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela exactly one month ago.
The bilateral meeting ended in an unexpectedly positive tone, with both leaders saying afterward that it went smoothly. Ahead of the meeting, former Colombian and U.S. officials had expressed apprehension, citing both Trump’s and Petro’s unpredictable and fiery tempers.
"We got along very well," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon. "He and I weren't exactly the best of friends, but I wasn't insulted, because I'd never met him. I didn't know him at all. And we got along very well."
Petro told reporters at a news conference at the Colombian Embassy in Washington that Trump told him "I like you," and he said the two talked about "concrete problems and joint pathways."
The meeting was expected to include a discussion of topics pertaining to Venezuela, including its border with Colombia, oil and energy, and guarantees about independence during Colombia’s upcoming presidential elections, four people familiar with the planning told NBC News, including former Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo. It's unclear how many of those topics were addressed.
Trump told reporters Monday afternoon that he and Petro would talk about narcotics “because tremendous amounts of drugs come out of his country.”
After the meeting, Trump said that they came to agreements on counternarcotics efforts and that the two countries were "working on that." Petro said they specifically discussed bolstering the economy near Colombia's borders with Venezuela and Ecuador to fight the flow of drugs in those areas.
Trump also said the Colombians "want me" to fight guerilla groups in Venezuela, saying: "We will. We're getting along very well in Venezuela with the leadership."
Both leaders broadly mentioned "sanctions" in their remarks after the meeting. It was not immediately clear whether those referred to potential sanctions against Colombia following its decertification as a nation failing to fight the drug war last year or to personal sanctions the Treasury Department levied against Petro and his associates last year.
"We're working on some other things, too, including sanctions," Trump said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what kind of sanctions Trump meant.
Trump's Treasury Department sanctioned Petro, his family and one of his Cabinet members in October over allegations of involvement in the global drug trade. Petro has strongly denied any involvement, and he has vowed to fight the far-reaching sanctions in U.S. court.
Petro denied that they discussed the personal sanctions, but he said he told Trump that discussions between them had to be between "free" people, not those acting under conditions he described as "blackmail."
In recent months, Petro has often drawn Trump’s ire, publicly disagreeing with him over Maduro’s capture, the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean and deportations of Colombians from the U.S.
Petro said last month that seizing Maduro was a violation of the region’s sovereignty and characterized the operation as a kidnapping. In response, Trump repeatedly threatened Petro, saying a U.S. military operation in Colombia “sounds good” to him and calling Petro a “sick man” who should “watch his a--.”
Trump's searing comments after Maduro was captured caused fear and anger in Colombia and propelled nationwide anti-American demonstrations in support of Petro.
Last week, in a freewheeling speech at a hospital in Colombia, Petro demanded the U.S. send Maduro back to Venezuela to stand trial there. A day later, Petro softened his stance, saying in a speech in Panama that he was not defending Maduro.
Petro was tight-lipped Tuesday when he was asked about Venezuela, mentioning Maduro not at all in his post-meeting remarks.
Some members of Congress have sought to mend what has usually been a strong alliance between the U.S. and Colombia. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., helped facilitate a phone conversation between Petro and Trump in late January, a diplomatic source in Washington told NBC News. The call, which both leaders described in positive terms, prompted Trump to invite Petro to the White House.
Diplomatic relations between the two nations suffered last year after the U.S. imposed the sanctions against Petro. They came shortly after Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who was born in Colombia and has become a key voice influencing U.S. policy toward the country, encouraged Trump to take a targeted approach with Petro.
At a lunch at the White House with Republican senators, Moreno brought a document that included what appeared to be an artificial intelligence-generated image of Petro and Maduro in orange prison jumpsuits. After a photo of White House deputy chief of staff James Blair holding the image was posted to the White House website, Petro recalled the Colombian ambassador to the U.S.
Moreno, who met with Colombian politicians in the days leading up to Trump and Petro’s meeting, attended the discussion, according to photos posted by Petro's office.
"I was honored to join President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Oval Office today," Moreno said Tuesday night on X. "We look forward to engaging with the Petro administration over their last few months in office."
Kevin Whitaker, a former U.S. ambassador to Colombia under Trump and former President Barack Obama, said Monday that the meeting would hinge in part on whether Petro was “prepared to make some offers.”
“In the context of the national security strategy the Trump administration put out in early December, the hemisphere is ours,” Whitaker said. “Petro would do well to understand Trump’s view in that regard.”
Whitaker said “a critical component” of the meeting would be "whether press is around.”
“Petro, certainly, but absolutely President Trump postures for the camera and sees it as an opportunity to underline his greater worldview,” Whitaker said.
Tuesday's meeting was not open to the media.
Photos posted by the Colombian government showed Trump and Petro side by side smiling, flanked by officials from each of their governments. Petro was wearing a suit and tie — uncharacteristic for a leader who did not even wear a tie in his official portrait. Petro removed his tie before the news conference Tuesday.
The Colombian delegation at the Oval Office included Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez and the ambassador in Washington, Daniel García-Peña. By Trump's side were Moreno, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In photos of the delegation walking into the meeting, García-Peña could be seen holding a copy of Trump's book "The Art of the Deal." Petro later posted a photo of the book, with its first page featuring a message signed by Trump.
"You are great," the message read.
