Donald Trump threatens military action against Colombia after Venezuela raid, telling reporters the operation “sounds good to me.”
President Donald Trump has set his sights on Colombia as his next potential military target following the successful capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, January 5, Trump made some crazy comments about Colombian President Gustavo Petro that sent shockwaves through diplomatic circles across Latin America.
“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Donald Trump said during the press conference, clearly targeting Petro with his harsh criticism.
When a reporter asked directly whether the United States would pursue military action against Colombia, Trump responded without hesitation: “It sounds good to me.”
The threatening remarks came just one day after American forces successfully captured Maduro in a dramatic raid that whisked the Venezuelan leader to New York to face drug trafficking charges in federal court.
Trump had previously issued a stark warning to Petro during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago immediately following the Venezuela operation, telling reporters that the Colombian president “does have to watch his ass.”
“He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his ass,” Trump said at the time, making clear his administration’s growing frustration with Colombia’s role in the drug trade.
The Colombian government wasted no time responding to Trump’s latest threats, with the Foreign Ministry issuing a strongly worded statement late Sunday rejecting the comments as completely unacceptable.
“It represents an undue interference in the internal affairs of the country, against the norms of international law,” the Foreign Ministry said in its official response to Trump’s military threats.
Petro, who has been a vocal critic of American foreign policy in the region, condemned the Saturday attack on Venezuela and has positioned himself as a defender of Latin American sovereignty against what he views as American imperialism.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry is expected to formally protest Trump’s threats through diplomatic channels and may seek support from other Latin American nations in condemning what they view as unacceptable interference in their internal affairs.
