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US-Colombia Relations

President Donald Trump on 19 October 2025 said he would slash US funding to Colombia because the country’s leader “does nothing to stop” drug production, in what is the latest sign of friction between Washington and one of its closest allies in Latin America. In a social media post, Trump referred to Colombian President Gustavo Petro as “an illegal drug dealer” who is “low rated and very unpopular.” He warned that Petro “better close up” drug operations “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely”.

Trump, while at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, wrote on his Truth Social platform that Petro is “strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields” across Colombia [which the Republican president initially misspelled as Columbia before deleting his post and replacing it the correct spelling of the country]. “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 said. “AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA,” Trump said. He also said Petro had “a fresh mouth toward America".

Earlier, Petro accused Washington of assassination after the latest US attack on alleged drug trafficking in Caribbean waters. Petro responded later by saying Trump was being "fooled by his lodges and advisers" in announcing an end to US aid to his country. Petro said that he has alerted the attorney general's office and demanded that it act immediately to initiate legal proceedings internationally and in US courts. He continued to post a flurry of messages about the killing. “The United States has invaded our national territory, fired a missile to kill a humble fisherman, and destroyed his family, his children. This is Bolívar’s homeland, and they are murdering his children with bombs,” Petro wrote.

Historically, Colombia has been one of the United States’ most reliable Latin American security partners, especially in drug-trafficking control, counterinsurgency, and broader regional policy cooperation. Yet with Colombia’s shift under Petro’s leadership and Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, the relationship appears to be undergoing significant strain.

At the heart of the tension lies a series of clashes over core issues: migration, sovereignty, and drug-trafficking policy. In January 2025, Petro refused to allow U.S. military aircraft transporting deported Colombian nationals to land in Colombia, citing dignity and human-rights concerns. In response, Trump threatened steep tariffs and visa revocations for Colombia — a dramatic escalation for a bilateral ally. Later, Trump formally decertified Colombia as a major drug-war partner, citing what his administration described as “failed” efforts under Petro to reduce coca cultivation and cocaine production — accusations the Colombian government staunchly rejects.

Beyond policy disputes, the bilateral dynamic has taken on a personal and rhetorical dimension. Trump has publicly accused Petro of being an “illegal drug leader” and announced a suspension of U.S. aid to Colombia, marking one of the harshest public rebukes of a Colombian head of state by a U.S. president in recent memory.

Meanwhile, Petro accused the U.S. of violating Colombia’s sovereignty — especially after U.S. naval/air strikes in Caribbean waters allegedly tied to narcotics trafficking resulted in Colombian casualties, which Petro denounced as “murder” and demanded investigation.

Looking ahead, the diplomatic fracture raises embedded risks: diminished U.S. assistance to Colombia’s security forces, weakened counter-narcotics cooperation, and possibly Colombia pivoting toward other global actors (e.g., China) for diplomatic or economic support. Analysts argue that while a reset could still occur, the structural divergence between Trump’s hard-line stance and Petro’s sovereignty-and-sovereign-development paradigm suggests a deeper realignment may be underway.

Over recent decades, Washington sent billions of dollars in aid southward to help tackle cartels, guerrillas, and paramilitaries who all profit from the ultra-lucrative drug trade. However, personal and political animosity between Trump and leftist President Gustavo Petro clouded a previously close security partnership. The two leaders clashed bitterly on social media, trading threats of sanctions and barbs about immigration policies.

The United States is Colombia's main trading partner and its greatest ally in the fight against drug trafficking, but US-Colombia relations got off to a bad start shortly after Trump returned to office in January 2025, when Petro refused to accept military flights carrying deportees in Trump's immigration crackdown. Petro said his country's citizens were being treated like criminals. But he quickly reversed course, agreeing to accept the migrants, after both countries threatened tariffs on each other and after the US cancelled visa appointments for Colombians.

Trump put Colombia on a list of countries that Washington says have failed to uphold their counter-narcotics agreements, blaming Colombia's political leadership. Petro came to office in 2022 promising agreements with armed groups but pivoted last year, pledging to tame coca-growing regions with massive social and military intervention. The strategy brought little success.

The State Department said 17 Octobr 2025 it was revoking Colombian President Gustavo Petro's US visa "due to his reckless and incendiary actions" after he took to New York's streets in a pro-Palestinian demonstration and urged US soldiers to disobey the orders of US President Donald Trump. Petro slammed Trump as "complicit in genocide" in his speech to the UN General Assembly. Petro, Colombia's first leftist president and a vocal opponent of Israel's war in Gaza, hit out at Trump in his speech to the UN General Assembly, saying the US leader was "complicit in genocide" in Gaza and calling for "criminal proceedings" over US missile attacks on suspected drug-running boats in Caribbean waters.

Petro, addressing a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters outside the UN headquarters in Manhattan, called for a global armed force with the priority to liberate Palestinians, adding, "This force has to be bigger than that of the United States." "That's why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity," Petro said in Spanish.

The US Department of State said 26 September 2025 that it would revoke the US visa held by left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who at that time was already en route to Bogota from New York. The State Department said the revocation was due to Petro's "reckless and incendiary actions." Petro condemned the US missile strikes and migrant abuse in his 24 September 2025 speech at the UN General Assembly. He said US President Donald Trump was "complicit in genocide" in Gaza and called for "criminal proceedings" against him. Petro was in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. Earlier, he told a group of protesters in New York that US soldiers should "disobey the orders of Trump" and "Obey the orders of humanity!"

Colombia had blocked two US military planes which were transporting deported migrants from landing on Colombian territory. Petro was not happy with the treatment of Colombian deportees by the Trump administration. In retaliation, the Trump administration revoked visas for Colombian officials and even announced 25% tariffs on Colombia, a major coffee producer. In response, Petro announced tariffs on US goods. That standoff was ended when then-Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo announced Colombia would take back its citizens. Trump then announced he would not move forward with the implementation of the punitive measures on Colombia.

Amid record cocaine production, on 15 September 2025 President Donald Trump declared that Colombia's leftist government was no longer helping in the drug war and had failed to curb the flow of cocaine to the United States. Trump's declaration marked a new low in normally warm relations between the world's top cocaine producer -- Colombia -- and the drug's top consumer, the United States.

"In Colombia, coca cultivation and cocaine production have surged to all-time records under President Gustavo Petro, and his failed attempts to seek accommodations with narco-terrorist groups only exacerbated the crisis. Under President Petro’s leadership, coca cultivation and cocaine production have reached record highs while Colombia’s government failed to meet even its own vastly reduced coca eradication goals, undermining years of mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries against narco-terrorists. For this reason, I have designated Colombia as having failed demonstrably to meet its drug control obligations. Colombia’s security institutions and municipal authorities continue to show skill and courage in confronting terrorist and criminal groups, and the United States values the service and sacrifice of their dedicated public servants across all levels of government. The failure of Colombia to meet its drug control obligations over the past year rests solely with its political leadership."

The commander of Colombia's defense forces, Francisco Cubides, said that the two countries would continue to work together despite the political crisis. Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated on 15 September 2025 that his country’s Armed Forces will no longer depend on U.S. weaponry, after announcing that Washington had made a political decision to decertify Colombia in the fight against drug trafficking. “The Colombian Army and its Armed Forces’ dependence on U.S. weaponry is over. No more handouts or gifts. They already decertified us, that’s the decision. The Colombian Army will do better if it buys its weapons or makes them with our own resources, because otherwise it will not be an army of national sovereignty,” Petro said during a televised cabinet meeting.

He criticized Washington’s decision to revoke Colombia’s certification, saying his administration had overseen the largest cocaine seizures on record and that the move was driven by politics, not performance. According to him, Colombia’s right-wing sympathizers, who are actually tied to drug trafficking, influenced U.S. officials by appealing to ideology rather than measurable results.

U.S. policy toward Colombia supported the Colombian Government's efforts to strengthen its democratic institutions, promote respect for human rights and the rule of law, foster socio-economic development, address immediate humanitarian needs, and end the threats to democracy posed by narcotics trafficking and terrorism. Promoting security, stability, and prosperity in Colombia will continue to be long-term American interests in the region.

In 1822, the United States became one of the first countries to recognize the republic of Colombia and to establish a resident diplomatic mission in the country.

During the Pastrana administration (1998-2002), relations with the United States improved significantly. The United States responded to the Colombian Government's request for international support for Plan Colombia (see above) by providing substantial assistance--close to $8 billion through FY 2012--designed to increase Colombia's counternarcotics capabilities and expand and consolidate government presence. This assistance also went toward improving the livelihoods of the most vulnerable Colombians by providing sustainable social and economic opportunities, protecting human rights, strengthening rule of law, and making governance more transparent, participatory, and accountable.

Recognizing that terrorism and the illicit narcotics trade in Colombia are inextricably linked, in 2002 the U.S. Congress expanded statutory authorities that made U.S. assistance to Colombia more flexible in order to better support President Uribe’s campaign against narcotics and terrorism. The United States continues close cooperation with the current administration of Colombia on these issues.

USAID has been working for almost 50 years in delivering socio-economic and humanitarian assistance to Colombia. In April 2009, the U.S. Government signed a multi-year country assistance agreement with the Government of Colombia, allotting $614 million through 2011. The agreement has been providing support to Colombia’s government, civil society, and private sector efforts in creating viable options for citizens in the licit economy, particularly in the agricultural sector; supporting the implementation of reforms in land restitution, reparations for victims and vulnerable populations, and reintegration of ex-combatants; promoting respect for human rights and the rule of law; and addressing environmental issues, such as climate change, in one of the most diverse countries in the world.

The U.S. Government estimated in 2012 that there were 63,000 U.S. citizens living in Colombia and 28,000 U.S. citizens visiting Colombia in any given month. Approximately 250 American businesses conduct at least some operations in Colombia.

From 1995 to 1997, the United States and Colombia signed important agreements dealing with environmental protection, asset sharing, and chemical control. A notable maritime ship-boarding agreement signed in 1997 allowed for searches of suspected drug-running vessels. In 2008, the countries signed a memorandum of understanding on renewable and clean energy. In June 2010, the United States and Colombia signed a Science and Technology Agreement to promote innovation in both countries. The two entered into an Open Skies Agreement in May 2011, marking the 100th Open Skies Agreement signed by the United States. The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement was signed in November 2006 and ratified by the U.S. Congress in October 2011. Once implemented, the agreement is expected to enable U.S. businesses to better compete with other countries that have already established FTAs with Colombia.

Reaction to the Inauguration of President Obama as reflected by the extensive and very positive media coverage for the new administration was uniformly positive in Colombia. President Uribe and numerous Colombian government officials welcomed President Obama's inauguration and looked forward to continued close relations with the United States. In his 23 January 2009 remarks to the full diplomatic corps, President Alvaro Uribe stated that he viewed President Obama's inauguration with the most positive hopes and that he expected to maintain the great alliance between the United States and Colombia in the future. President Uribe continued that he hoped that Colombia could serve as a bridge to promote understanding between the United States and the region.

US Vice President Joe Biden praised developments in peace negotiations between Colombia's government and FARC rebels. Biden made the comments May 27, 2013 during a visit Monday to Bogota, Colombia, in which he met with President Juan Manuel Santos. He said the United States supported President Santos' efforts to reach a historic peace with the rebels.

Whereas other U.S. administrations have provided major political, financial and military support to Colombia, the first Trump administration's position was initially unclear with some interpreting his unannounced April meeting with former Colombian presidents Alvaro Uribe and Andres Pastrana as an indication of his lack of support for peace. Uribe and Pastrana are among the most prominent voices opposing peace deals with the rebel forces.

The presidents of the United States and Colombia had their first face-to-face meeting at the White House 18 May 2017, making President Manuel Santos the third current Latin American president to meet with Donald Trump, following President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of Peru, and President Mauricio Macri of Argentina. When reporters asked Santos whether he believed Trump's proposal to build a wall along the U.S. and Mexican border would be effective to counter narcotics smuggling, Santos evaded answering the question directly. He instead emphasized the need for “cooperation between nations” to combat drug trafficking, adding that the “war on drugs has not been won” and it is a “global problem” that is bigger than just Colombia and the US. Trump appeared visibly annoyed that Santos didn't directly address the issue. “Walls work, just ask Israel,” Trump added curtly.

In spite of tensions over the wall, the two presidents repeatedly affirmed that in their meeting they had strengthened the alliance between Colombia and the US. “For a long time our nations have had a strategic alliance,” Santos said. “Today we continue as partners in peace ... we must continue and deepen the fight against drug trafficking, human trafficking, and illegal mining.”