Bogota, Colombia – U.S. President Donald Trump today apologized to Colombian President Gustavo Petro for not inviting him to the “Shield of the Americas” summit in Miami last week, the Colombian government said.
The President’s Office posted on
The apology comes days after Petro criticized the country’s exclusion of Colombia from the ‘Shield of the Americas’ summit. At the summit, Washington convened 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries to sign an anti-drug cooperation agreement.
It is known that the two leaders discussed various pending issues, including energy, security, and drug suppression operations, during the phone call that day.
The statement from Bogotá added that Petro invited Trump to visit Cartagena, a city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, and forced the U.S. president to apologize for excluding the South American leader from the Miami summit.
The ‘Shield of the Americas’ summit was held at Trump’s Miami golf club last Saturday and was attended primarily by delegations from conservative governments allied with the White House, including Argentina’s Javier Millais and Ecuador’s Daniel Novoa.
After the meeting, Petro said: “We cannot create a southern shield because 17 small and weak countries lack experience in dealing with cocaine. There will be holes in it.” He also highlighted his country’s experience in the fight against drug trafficking and commented on the government’s record seizures of cocaine.
Petro and Trump have had a fractious relationship over the past year, clashing over issues ranging from deportation flights to drug control. The White House imposed sanctions on the Colombian leader in October, and the president accused Petro of being an “illegal drug dealer.”
But the January phone call led to a easing of tensions when Petro visited the White House in February.
In today’s call, President Trump “expressed his appreciation for the communication and expressed his interest in maintaining close contact with the President of Colombia,” Bogota said in a statement.
Featured Image Caption: President Donald J. Trump meets Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House in February 2026.
Featured image credit: @WhiteHouse via X.
