President Trump lashed out at Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday, warning that “he better watch his a‑‑.”
“He has to watch it because he’s got drug factories. They make cocaine in Colombia,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on the heels of an announcement about the building of new Navy ships. “He better watch his a‑‑ because he makes cocaine and they send it into the United States from Colombia.”
“We love the Colombian people. I love the Colombian people,” the president said. “But their new leader is a troublemaker and he better watch it. He better close up those cocaine factories. There are at least three major cocaine factories. We know where they are.”
Trump made the comment in response to a question about Petro’s criticism of the U.S. for demanding that Venezuela return all assets it seized in the past from U.S. oil companies.
“Texas is a territory that was invaded. It wasn’t sold. So was California and all of the southern U.S.,” Petro said over the weekend.
Tensions have simmered between the two leaders, who occupy two ends of the political spectrum. Petro is the first left-leaning leader in recent history in Colombia. And it comes amid heightening tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela as oil tankers continue to be seized in the Caribbean.
Trump hit Petro and his family members with sanctions in October.
“President Petro has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity. Today, President Trump is taking strong action to protect our nation and make clear that we will not tolerate the trafficking of drugs into our nation,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The Colombian leader said in an interview with CNN last month that oil was at the center of Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuela.
“So, that’s a negotiation about oil. I believe that is Trump’s logic. He’s not thinking about the democratization of Venezuela, let alone the narco-trafficking,” Petro said.