U.S. President Donald Trump has called Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader” aiding the production of drugs that are eventually trafficked into America.

In a statement on Truth Social on Sunday, Mr Trump said, “President Gustavo Petro, of Columbia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia.”

“The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc,” Mr Trump said.

The American president also accused Mr Petro of doing nothing to curb the drug menace in Colombia despite subsidy support from the United States, adding that his government is stopping all subsidy payments to the Colombian government.

Drug production “has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large-scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long-term rip-off of America,” Mr Trump said. “As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment, or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia.”

Mr Trump, who berated “Petro, a low-rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America,” has embarked on a brutal crackdown on drug cartels since he assumed office in January 2025. The U.S. military has bombed a number of speedboats transporting drugs into America by sea on Mr Trump’s orders.

Mr Petro is yet to officially respond to Mr Trump’s outburst. However, the Colombian leader, in a post on X on Saturday, said his government has reduced the cultivation of coca leaf — a plant regarded as the raw material for cocaine production.

“We have reduced the coca leaf crop growth rate to almost zero%. In past governments, there were years with nearly 100% annual growth. Today, half of the total coca leaf crop area has crops that have been abandoned for three years,” Mr Petro said.