President Trump announced Sunday that the United States will halt financial aid to Colombia and accused President Gustavo Petro of enabling drug production, labeling him an “illegal drug dealer.”
In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump claimed that Mr. Petro has failed to curb the large-scale manufacturing of narcotics in Colombia, despite what he described as “large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.”
“As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment, or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia,” the president said.
He blamed Colombian drug exports for fueling “death, destruction, and havoc” across the United States and reiterated his administration’s hardline stance on stemming the flow of narcotics from South America.
Mr. Trump has focused on stopping the flow of illegal drugs coming into the United States from South America.
Mr. Trump has taken particular aim at Venezuela and its president, Nicolas Maduro, whom he has accused of colluding with drug cartels. The Trump administration has carried out controversial strikes on boats in the Caribbean, which it alleges were carrying illegal drugs headed for the United States.
Mr. Trump recently turned heads when he raised the prospect of a strike on Venezuela on land and said that the CIA is conducting covert operations inside the country.
Asked about reports that Mr. Maduro had offered Venezuela’s natural resources, Mr. Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric.
“You know why? Because he doesn’t want to [expletive] around with the United States,” he told reporters.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump turned his attention to Mr. Petro. He said the Colombian leader is “a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America.”
He warned that he “better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”
