President Donald Trump issued one of his bluntest threats yet toward a Latin American leader on Thursday, telling reporters that Colombian President Gustavo Petro should “wise up” as the United States intensifies its anti-drug campaign across the region. The warning, delivered off-the-cuff but with unmistakable intent, underscored a widening confrontation that has already drawn in Venezuela and now risks embroiling one of Washington’s oldest allies in South America.
Asked whether he was weighing action against Petro, Trump did not hedge. “Colombia is producing a lot of drugs,” he said. “So he better wise up or he’ll be next. He’ll be next soon. I hope he’s listening; he’s going to be next.” What began as a momentary aside quickly hardened into a policy signal, with Trump later placing Petro on a growing list of regional leaders he accuses of abetting drug traffickers.
The escalation comes just one day after U.S. Navy forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker in the Caribbean, an operation that has already sharpened tensions with Caracas and drawn alarm from neighboring governments. The tanker seizure, U.S. officials say, is intended to disrupt Venezuela’s improvised export channels—routes heavily dependent on intermediaries funneling crude to buyers in Asia—and to deter shipping firms from carrying sanctioned cargo.
Caracas has denounced the move as another chapter in Washington’s attempt to control its oil resources. The Venezuelan government has pointed to a broader pattern: more than 20 U.S. strikes on suspected trafficking vessels since September and over 80 deaths linked to those interdictions. Trump, for his part, has suggested the campaign may not remain confined to the seas, hinting at possible ground-based actions in Venezuela.
Petro, facing direct threats from a U.S. president while navigating Colombia’s own fraught internal politics, was swift and unequivocal in his response. “To threaten our sovereignty is to declare war; do not damage two centuries of diplomatic relations,” he said, invoking a partnership that has survived civil war, narcotics crises, and ideological shifts on both sides of the equator. He went further, inviting Trump to see Colombia’s anti-drug efforts firsthand—an implicit challenge to the White House narrative that Bogotá is failing to curb production.
Trump’s remarks also open a new front in his evolving regional strategy. For months, his administration has concentrated its fire on Venezuela, deploying a substantial military presence and authorizing lethal interdictions on the high seas. Now he is signaling a widened campaign aimed at Mexico and Colombia—two countries whose cooperation has historically been essential to U.S. counter-narcotics operations.
