President Donald Trump gave a stern warning Monday to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of allowing cocaine production to flourish and telling him to "watch it" after Petro asserted that parts of the southwestern U.S. were "invaded" territory.
Trump was speaking with reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after announcing a plan to develop a new line of battleships.
His remarks aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.
A reporter asked Trump about remarks Petro made over the weekend that Texas, California, and other parts of the southern United States were "invaded" territories, comments that escalated already strained relations between Washington and Bogotá.
"He has to watch [it] because he has drug factories," Trump said. "They make cocaine in Colombia.
"He's no friend of the United States. He's a very bad guy, and he's got to watch his [expletive] because he makes cocaine, and they send it into the United States of America from Colombia."
Trump emphasized his support for the Colombian people while criticizing the country's leadership.
"We love the Colombian people," he said. "I love the Colombian people.
"They're great people; energetic, smart. But their new leader is a troublemaker and he better watch it.
"He better close up those cocaine factories. They have at least three major cocaine factories.
"We know where they are. He better close them up fast."
Tensions between the leaders have been building amid heightened U.S. pressure on Venezuela, including a naval blockade in the Caribbean Sea and the seizure of sanctioned oil tankers.
Trump has taken a hard line against left-leaning governments in the region and has repeatedly linked regional instability to drug trafficking.
Trump demanded last week that Venezuela return assets it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, prompting Petro's response, which was shown in a video posted Thursday on X.
"Texas is a territory that was invaded," Petro said, according to the Latin Times. "It wasn't sold. So was California and all of southern U.S."
Petro went on to say that a "Latin American President can't say 'give it back, it was stolen from us.' But he [Trump] can say 'give it back, it was stolen' when talking about Venezuelan oil. So, let's make a deal. You give back what you stole from [us] and what they think we stole from them, which we haven't, well let's discuss it."
The Trump administration sanctioned Petro and several of his family members in October, citing concerns over drug production and cartel activity. Petro has rejected Trump's accusations, saying in a recent CNN interview that oil policy, not democracy or drug enforcement, is driving U.S. pressure on Venezuela.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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