Trump calls Colombia president ‘illegal drug dealer’ as US says it hit another ship | Trump administration
Donald Trump on Sunday accused Colombian President Gustavo Petro of being an “illegal drug dealer” and threatened to immediately cut off U.S. funding to the country after the defense minister confirmed in a social media post an attack on a ship linked to a Colombian leftist rebel group.
U.S. forces attacked another ship, this time linked to a Colombian leftist rebel group, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday. In his post on the X channel, Hegseth said that “3 terrorists were killed” in the operation “carried out in international waters”.
“These cartels are Al Qaeda in the Western Hemisphere,” Hegseth said. “The United States military will treat these organizations as terrorists; they will be hunted down and killed.”
In a post published on Truth Social a few hours ago, Trump accused the South American leftist leader of encouraging mass production of illegal drugs and said he “did nothing to stop it, despite large-scale payments and subsidies from the United States.”
“Petro, a low-rated and highly unpopular leader with a fresh mouth against America, better close these killing grounds immediately,” Trump wrote, “or the United States will close them for him, and it will not be done nicely.”
His remarks came after Petro said the US had committed “murder” following an attack on an alleged drug ship in Colombian waters in September.
Petro said in his post on
The threat to cut aid marks the end of tensions between the two countries, despite the fact that historically Colombia has been one of the United States’ closest allies in Latin America.
The victim of the strike was identified by Petro as Alejandro Carranza, a Colombian fisherman from the coastal town of Santa Marta. He was allegedly killed when US forces opened fire on his boat on September 15.
“Carranza had no connection with the drug trade and his daily activity was fishing,” Petro wrote. “The Colombian boat was drifting and gave a distress signal due to engine failure.”
But Trump continued to justify the necessity of these ongoing boat attacks, even though his administration has released little information about the ships or the identities of those on board.
On Thursday, the United States moved to send the two survivors of the latest attack – the sixth since early September – abroad instead of long-term military detention.
“The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution,” Trump said.
The attack targeted a semi-submersible ship that the president said was “mostly loaded with Fentanyl and other illegal drugs.” Two crew members were killed and experts said the decision to repatriate the survivors meant the US military would avoid complex legal questions surrounding the detention of suspected drug traffickers. An official said this was the first recorded instance of survivors NBC.
In his statement after the attack, Trump said, “It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG CARRYING SUBMARINE that was sailing towards the United States through a well-known transit route of drug smuggling.”
So far at least 29 The deaths of people in strikes that the administration has argued target drug traffickers have raised alarm among some legal experts and Democratic lawmakers who question whether they comply with the laws of war.
Currently, the United States is building a significant military presence in the Caribbean and along the coastline, which includes guided missile destroyers, F-35 jets, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) authority to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
Colombia is the largest recipient of US aid of any country in Latin America, and former president Joe Biden has identified the country as an important non-NATO ally. 2022. While Congress allocated $377.5 million for foreign aid to the country in 2024, with similar projections for 2025, there were restrictions imposed due to Petro’s policies and efforts to curb the drug trade.
Trump administration in September alleged Colombia has failed to cooperate in the drug war, adding them to the list of other countries for the first time in almost 30 years.
They recently said they would cancel Petro’s visa while he was in New York for the UN general assembly, following his “reckless” actions during a pro-Palestinian protest. Petro had called on US soldiers “not to obey Trump’s order” and “not to point their weapons at humanity”.
In response to Trump’s latest accusations and funding cuts, Petro responded in a post on
Finally, he added: “The problem is Trump, not the USA.”
