Colombia recalls US ambassador after Trump calls its leader ‘illegal drug leader,’ threatens military action

Colombia has recalled its ambassador to the United States amid rising tensions between the two nations and comments by President Donald Trump about the South American country’s leader.

Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio Mapy announced the move Monday.

“The ambassador of Colombia to the United States, Daniel García-Peña, has been recalled to Bogotá for consultations by President Gustavo Petro Urrego,” Mapy wrote on X.

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The decision came a day after Trump criticized Petro, calling him “an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia.”

“It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large-scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long-term rip-off of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia.”

Trump continued:

“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.”

TRUMP CALLS COLOMBIA’S PETRO ‘A DRUG LEADER,’ SAYS US AID WILL END PAYMENTS

On Sunday, Petro condemned a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel that killed three people. He said the boat belonged to a “humble family,” not to the leftist National Liberation Army rebel group.

“Mr. Trump, Colombia has never been rude to the United States … but you are rude and ignorant toward Colombia,” Petro said on X. “Since I am not a businessman, I am even less a drug trafficker. There is no greed in my heart.”

Petro has repeatedly feuded with Trump. He rejected Trump’s accusations and defended his efforts to combat narcotics in Colombia, the world’s largest exporter of cocaine.

“Trying to promote peace in Colombia is not being a drug trafficker,” Petro wrote. He suggested Trump was being deceived by his advisors, described himself as “the main enemy” of drugs in his country and said Trump was being “rude and ignorant toward Colombia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.