Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Donald Trump of being a ‘white slaveholder’ who is on track to ‘wipe out the human species’ after being humiliated by the US president in a dispute over migrants.
It is the latest salvo in a bitter dispute that began when Petro blocked two US migrant deportation flights entering his country. But within hours, Trump threatened to hit Colombia with huge import tariffs and stop visa processing.
Petro immediately backed down on migrant flights, and even offered to use his own plane to fly deported migrants from the US to Colombia.Â
After the climbdown, Petro said: ‘You don’t like our freedom, okay. I don’t shake hands with white slavers.’
‘Overthrow me, President, and the Americas and humanity will respond… You can try to carry out a coup with your economic strength and your arrogance.’
President Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Colombian imports and an immediate visa revocation for government officials after the nation refused two planeloads of citizens who had been deported from the United States.
That tariff will be raised to 50 per cent in one week, the president warned.Â
But not even two hours after Trump announced his retaliatory efforts against Colombia, Petro offered his presidential plane to ‘facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights.’Â
However, now he’s launched a savage scorched earth attack on President Trump, further disintegrating the relationship between the two nations.
Petro warned Trump that his ‘greed’ could be the downfall of mankind in the brutal attack.Â
‘I don’t like your oil, Trump,’ he said, adding: ‘You’re going to wipe out the human species because of greed.’Â
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Donald Trump of being a ‘white slaveholder’ who is on track to ‘wipe out the human species’ in a blistering takedown
President Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Colombian imports and an immediate visa revocation for government officials after the nation refused two planeloads of citizens who had been deported from the United States
Not even two hours after Trump announced his retaliatory efforts against Colombia, Petro offered his presidential plane to ‘facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights’Â
Petro went on to tell Trump, publicly via X, that the ‘blockade does not scare me, because Colombia, besides being the country of beauty, is the heart of the world.’
In response to the tariff ‘on the fruits of our human labor’, Petro has imposed a tariff of 25 per cent – which will rise to 50 per cent – on US goods entering Colombia.Â
The tit-for-tat descended into nasty jabs at President Trump and, more broadly, the United States.
‘Trump, I don’t really like travelling to the US, it’s a bit boring… I confess that there are some commendable things.Â
‘I like going to the black neighbourhoods of Washington, where I saw an entire fight in the US capital between blacks and Latinos with barricades, which seemed like nonsense to me, because they should join.’
And Petro made it clear he would not back down, despite the White House insisting he did just that on the flight saga after he volunteered his own plane to pick up migrants.
‘You will never rule us,’ he said. ‘The warrior who rode our lands, shouting freedom, who is called BolÃvar, opposes us. I will die in my law, I resisted torture and I resist you.
‘I don’t want slavers next to Colombia, we already had many and we freed ourselves. What I want next to Colombia are lovers of freedom.’Â
Trump ordered a 25 percent tariff and visa revocation of Colombian government officials after the president refused to let migrant deportation flights land on Sunday
Mexico and Colombia refused to let the military aircraft land with migrants. Pictured: Migrants deplane a U.S. military aircraft after it landed in Guatemala on January 24, 2025
Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, described the situation as a ‘bold and daring escalation on both sides’ to the New York Times.
‘For Trump to threaten Colombia this way is pretty bold itself. Colombia remains historically the longest standing, the deepest, strategic ally in the region.’Â
Petro prevented two U.S. military aircraft full of his citizens from landing in the country on Sunday amid a mass deportation effort of those who entered illegally.
He took issue with the use of military flights, demanding his people be returned with ‘dignity and respect.’
‘If that country sends them back, it should be with dignity and respect for them and for our country,’ he said.
Petro did offer to hash out his differences with President Trump ‘one day, over a glass of whiskey,’ but said doing so would be difficult because he does not think the U.S. leader respects him or his people.
‘It’s difficult because you consider me an inferior race and I’m not, nor is any Colombian. So if you know someone who is stubborn, that’s me,’ he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Colombia’s eventual cooperation ‘makes clear to the world that America is respected again.’Â
‘President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,’ she said.
Trump announced the tariffs, as well as his imposition of ‘A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters’ on social media.
All ‘party members, family members, and supporters of the Colombian government’ also will face visa sanctions, according to Trump’s social media announcement.Â
Some countries claim their residents have not been treated well while in U.S. custody and complain that they are being returned in handcuffs
Trump announced on Truth Social on Sunday that he instructed his administration to impose sanctions and tariffs on Colombia and its government officials after the President refused to allow two separate military flights of migrants land back in their country
‘These measures are just the beginning,’ the president warned. ‘We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!’
Trump signed approximately 10 executive orders related to illegal immigration and the migrant border crisis on his first week back in the Oval Office.
In his first moments back as president, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border.Â
But a plane packed with migrants did not take off from the U.S. after Mexico said it would not permit it to land on their soil.
The flight was one of three that were set to take off on Thursday.
The other two were bound for Guatemala carrying over 150 people – and successfully completed their missions when the government allowed the aircraft to land with deported migrants.
Defense Department officials confirmed last week that their forces plan to fly 5,400 migrants who are currently in detention out of the U.S. on deportation missions.
