Colombian President Gustavo Petro traveled to the United States this week for a highly anticipated meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, marking a thaw in relations after a year of public clashes between the two leaders.
The visit came under unusual circumstances. Last year, the Trump administration revoked Petro’s U.S. visa after he joined a pro-Palestinian protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City, where he publicly criticized U.S. policy and urged American soldiers to “disobey the orders of Trump.” Washington labeled his actions “reckless and incendiary,” a move that also drew accusations from Petro that the United States was violating diplomatic norms for heads of state.
To facilitate this week’s visit, the U.S. government issued a special five-day visa for Petro, overriding the previous cancellation and inviting him to Washington for high-level talks.
In the Oval Office, the two leaders put aside months of hostile rhetoric, which had included sharp exchanges on immigration policy, drug trafficking, and broader geopolitical tensions. After the meeting — closed to the press — Trump described the encounter as amicable and said that the leaders “got along very well,” despite past disagreements. Both sides signaled a willingness to cooperate on issues such as drug interdiction and regional security going forward.
The meeting represents an uneasy détente between Washington and Bogotá, with both presidents seeking to reset a relationship that had at times seemed on the brink of outright diplomatic rupture.