U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday (January 9, 2026) that he would meet with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in early February. He also called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming the flow of cocaine into the U.S. Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday (January 3), Mr. Trump had made vague threats to take similar action against Mr. Petro. He, however, abruptly changed his tone on Wednesday (January 7) about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Mr. Petro to visit the White House.

Source: The Hindu January 09, 2026 23:08 UTC