BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombian officials began frantically calling Republicans in Congress seeking help to prevent a feared U.S. attack afterPresident Donald Trump issued searing commentsabout their country's leader in the wake of the raid that capturedVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a senior Colombian official tells NBC News.
Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump called his Colombian counterpart,Gustavo Petro, "a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States," adding: "And he's not going to be doing it very long."
Petro, a former Marxist revolutionary and one of the few Latin American leaders willing to vocally criticize Trump, on Tuesday said the American president had a "senile brain."
The Colombians asked members of Congress to help set up a phone call between Petro and Trump, which the Colombian government had wanted for some time. The official said the mediation paid off, withthe two leaders speaking by phone on Wednesday, shortly before Petro was set to lead nationwide demonstrations in support of the country's sovereignty.
The Trump-Petro call resulted in a dramatic de-escalation in tensions between the two men, with both leaders praising each other and announcing plans for a meeting in Washington next month.
Colombia's Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez told NBC News on Thursday that he planned to travel to Washington along with Petro to meet with American officials — and that he no longer had concerns the U.S. would launch a military attack on his country.
"I trust in the word of the president of the United States," he said, adding that the conversation had been a crucial "icebreaker" for the two leaders and countries.
Something Trump said on the call made a particular impression on Petro, the Colombian leader said in a Thursdayinterview with NBC News partner Telemundo.
"I know you have been surrounded by lies like I have," Petro said Trump had told him during a 55-minute telephone conversation.
In a Truth Social post sent a short while later, Trump wrote that it had been a "Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had."
In another post on Friday, Trump said he was looking forward to meeting Petro at the White House in February, adding: "I am sure it will work out very well for Colombia, and the U.S.A., but, cocaine and other drugs must be STOPPED from coming into the United States."
The White House did not respond to questions about the flurry of calls that preceded the conversation between the two leaders, nor about Trump's comment to Petro that they both were "surrounded by lies."
Colombian leaders, including Petro and Sánchez, appeared gratified by the language Trump used when describing the conversation.
"He said yesterday that it was 'an honor' to speak with the president of Colombia to solve a common problem," said Sánchez, a decorated career Air Force officer with a key role in engaging with the U.S. and tackling drug trafficking.
Those common problems are the drug trade — Colombiais one ofthe world's leading producers of coca, which is used to make cocaine, and the United States the largest consumer of the drug — and gangs that enable the cross-border flow of people, narcotics and other illicit goods.
Colombia is the United States' main drug-fighting ally in the hemisphere, Sánchez said.
"We share a lot of history, we share democratic values, and also we have a strong cooperation between the both countries, especially in defense," he said.
Colombian leaders are especially alert to the movement of the leaders of Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua and Colombia's ELN, designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and which has bases in Venezuela, among others, Sanchez said. Some 30,000 troops had been deployed to help guard the 1,400-mile border with Venezuela.
"We are ready to defeat or to confront those groups," he added.
While the U.S. has historically had strong relations with Colombia, sending hundreds of millions of dollars in military and other assistance every year, these cooled after Petro came to power in 2022. Ties truly frayed under Trump.
In October, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Petro and members of his family over alleged ties to the drug trade — charges he denies.
In November, Petro called Trump a "barbarian" who "wants to frighten us," and said the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean was "undoubtedly an aggression against Latin America."
The recent escalating rhetoric reached a boiling point on Wednesday, when Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio warned the U.S. to back off.
"If such aggression were to occur, the military must defend the national territory and the country's sovereignty," she said at a news conference in Bogota.
Still, Sánchez said he believed in-person communication is key, and two weeks ago sent a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, inviting him to Colombia to see first hand the work the country is doing to combat the supply of drugs. (Hegseth has not responded publicly to the invitation.)
"He is a soldier and I'm a soldier," he said. "The enemies are the criminals, not the nations."
