{"id":3821,"date":"2026-02-04T06:23:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T06:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=3821"},"modified":"2026-02-04T06:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T06:23:28","slug":"trump-meets-colombias-petro-in-closely-watched-white-house-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=3821","title":{"rendered":"Trump Meets Colombia&#8217;s Petro in Closely Watched White House Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the presidents of the <strong>United States<\/strong> and <strong>Colombia <\/strong>meeting in Washington, <strong>Russia<\/strong> resuming its assault on <strong>Ukraine<\/strong>\u2019s energy infrastructure, and a crackdown on social media platforms in <strong>Europe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>White House Showdown <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In a test of competing ideologies, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday. Tensions were high ahead of the closed-door meeting\u2014already a rarity in <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/02\/28\/trump-zelensky-television-presidency-diplomacy\/\">Trump\u2019s TV presidency<\/a>\u2014as experts wondered whether the two leaders would be able to stabilize their volatile relationship or revert back to months of diplomatic fighting and schoolyard insults.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the presidents of the <strong>United States<\/strong> and <strong>Colombia <\/strong>meeting in Washington, <strong>Russia<\/strong> resuming its assault on <strong>Ukraine<\/strong>\u2019s energy infrastructure, and a crackdown on social media platforms in <strong>Europe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-fallback\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">\n                <\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/category\/world-brief\/\">Sign up<\/a>  to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<form data-shortcode-newsletter=\"world_brief\" class=\"newsletter-unit-signup newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode email-capture--step-1 newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief newsletter-shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"show-on-email-capture--signed-up hide-from-newsletter-subscriber newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode--container\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit newsletter-row\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/h2>\n<p>\n                        <button class=\"button\">Sign Up<\/button>\n                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--flex newsletter-world_brief newsletter-signup-container\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"World Brief sign up form\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"buttons\">\n<div class=\"hide-from-newsletter-subscriber privacy-policy-container\">\n<div class=\"privacy-policy-acknowledge\">\n<p><small>By submitting your email, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/termsofuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n    <label for=\"email-world_brief\">Enter your email<\/label><br \/>\n    <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"hide-from-reg hide-from-sub\" id=\"email-world_brief\" aria-required=\"true\" required=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <button class=\"button button--signup \" data-newsletter-id=\"world_brief\" data-sourceid=\"In-article unit\" type=\"submit\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"sign-up-text\">Sign Up<\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"loading-text\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>White House Showdown <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In a test of competing ideologies, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday. Tensions were high ahead of the closed-door meeting\u2014already a rarity in <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/02\/28\/trump-zelensky-television-presidency-diplomacy\/\">Trump\u2019s TV presidency<\/a>\u2014as experts wondered whether the two leaders would be able to stabilize their volatile relationship or revert back to months of diplomatic fighting and schoolyard insults.<\/p>\n<p>Little information has emerged from the summit, with Petro expected to make a public announcement at 4 p.m. local time and Trump surprisingly silent on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p>According to one Colombian advisor, though, Petro was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/02\/world\/americas\/colombia-petro-trump-white-house.html\">cautioned<\/a> to avoid topics that could lead to a diplomatic blowup, like the one that occurred between Trump and Ukrainian President <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/02\/28\/trump-zelensky-meeting-ukraine-russia-oval-office\/\">Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> in the Oval Office last year. Instead, Colombian officials reportedly planned to use Tuesday\u2019s meeting to deliver a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/trump-colombias-petro-foes-exploring-thaw-meet-tuesday-2026-02-03\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&amp;utm_term=020326&amp;lctg=607f1056abd4f461f466319b\">detailed presentation<\/a> on their anti-drug achievements, including cocaine seizures, in a bid to appease the White House; Colombia is the world\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/09\/19\/colombia-drug-policy-cocaine-united-nations-us-trump-decertification\/\">top producer of coca<\/a>, the main ingredient in cocaine.<\/p>\n<p>Petro is a leftist former guerrilla and a frequent, vocal critic of the Trump administration, especially Trump\u2019s efforts to establish <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/12\/08\/monroe-doctrine-trump-corollary-national-security-strategy-venezuela\/\">U.S. dominance<\/a> in Latin America. The Colombian leader has said that the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/10\/23\/us-boat-strikes-pacific-caribbean-venezuela-trump-drug-war-maduro\/\">deadly U.S. strikes<\/a> on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the region amount to war crimes, described last month\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/03\/venezuela-maduro-capture-trump-strikes\/\">U.S. military operation<\/a> to capture Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro as \u201ckidnapping,\u201d and called the actions of <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/02\/03\/minneapolis-ice-minnesota-immigration-protest-democracy\/\">U.S. immigration authorities<\/a> \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/09\/world\/americas\/trump-petro-colombia-phone-call.html\">fascist<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump, for his part, has <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/10\/20\/trump-colombia-drugs-tariffs-aid-cuts-petro\/\">not taken Petro\u2019s criticism<\/a> lying down. Just one week into the U.S. president\u2019s second term, Trump threatened to impose a travel ban and sweeping tariffs on Bogot\u00e1 after Petro refused to allow U.S. military planes carrying Colombian deportees to land in the country. In September, the U.S. State Department revoked Petro\u2019s visa following a speech he made at a pro-Palestine rally in New York, during which he publicly urged U.S. soldiers to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/09\/27\/americas\/us-revokes-colombia-president-visa-petro-intl-hnk\">defy Trump\u2019s orders<\/a>. One month later, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-petro-colombia-drugs-us-aid-c3955b2ce351737119920741178e0567\">announced<\/a> that he would slash all U.S. aid to Colombia and impose tariffs on the nation, calling Petro an \u201cillegal drug leader\u201d and a \u201clunatic.\u201d And the U.S. Treasury Department <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sb0292\">sanctioned<\/a> Petro and several of his supporters for their alleged involvement in illicit drug production and proliferation.<\/p>\n<p>Growing hostility appeared to come to a head in December, when Trump warned Petro that \u201che better wise up, or he\u2019ll be next,\u201d appearing to allude to <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/29\/us-military-latin-america-trump-venezuela-cuba-colombia-mexico\/\">U.S. actions against Maduro<\/a>. But just a few days later, a private phone call between the two leaders seemed to calm things down somewhat, with Trump later telling reporters that \u201csomehow, after the Venezuelan raid, [Petro] became very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear just how \u201cnice\u201d Petro was during Tuesday\u2019s meeting, but initial statements appear optimistic. Petro <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/petrogustavo\/status\/2018764117893406985\">posted<\/a> a photo of himself and Trump on X on Tuesday alongside a note signed by Trump that says, \u201cGustavo\u2014a great honor. I love Colombia.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>Today\u2019s Most Read<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>What We\u2019re Following<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Weaponizing winter.<\/strong> Russia resumed its brutal winter assault on Ukraine\u2019s energy grid with drone and missile strikes on Tuesday, hitting power plants in multiple regions. Tuesday\u2019s strikes came after Trump said that he had persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin to commit to a weeklong halt in attacks on Kyiv and other cities as Ukraine faced \u201cextraordinary cold.\u201d Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last Friday that the temporary energy cease-fire would only last until Sunday, but Trump recently suggested that the halt in attacks was ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>The Tuesday strikes, which knocked the power out in parts of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, also come a day before peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States are set to take place in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. Zelensky said the assault was a sign that Moscow is not taking diplomacy seriously, excoriating Russia for hitting Ukraine during its \u201ccoldest days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Russia has targeted Ukraine\u2019s civilian energy infrastructure throughout their nearly four-year war, but it has ramped up such attacks and been particularly ruthless this winter\u2014leaving millions of Ukrainians without power and heat in the face of plunging temperatures as part of a strategy to increase suffering and break the country\u2019s spirit.<\/p>\n<p>The ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine is indicative of the uphill battle that Washington faces as it continues to push for a peace deal between the two countries, with fundamental disagreements over security guarantees for Kyiv and the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/08\/21\/donbas-importance-putin-ukraine-russia-war-peace-negotiations\/\">fate of the Donbas<\/a> among the biggest obstacles to overcome.\u2014<em>John Haltiwanger<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Europe cracks down. <\/strong>Leading European states are continuing to push back on U.S. social media platforms accused of not doing enough to combat the spread of objectionable and illegal material on their systems. On Tuesday, French authorities with Paris\u2019s cybercrime unit on <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/france-x-investigation-seach-elon-musk-1116be84d84201011219086ecfd4e0bc\">searched<\/a> the offices of X as part of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/03\/world\/europe\/musk-x-france-police-search.html\">initial investigation<\/a> into alleged complicity by the social media platform in the possession and dissemination of sexually explicit images of minors and other pornographic images produced using artificial intelligence. X has also been accused by French prosecutors of fraudulent use of a data system and denial of crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk, who owns X, has been ordered to submit to questioning. The platform has denied the accusations.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Spain became the latest in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cwyp9d3ddqyo\">growing list<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/asia\/malaysia-says-plans-ban-social-media-users-under-16-starting-2026-rcna245562\">countries<\/a> to propose or outright ban the use of social media platforms by minors. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez said on Tuesday that the government was moving toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/spain-hold-social-media-executives-accountable-illegal-hateful-content-2026-02-03\/\">banning<\/a> anyone under the age of 16 from having social media accounts and would be cooperating with five other European countries that he called the \u201ccoalition of the digitally willing\u201d to enforce regulations across borders. Although he did not name the other countries, France and the United Kingdom are among the European states that are also developing age-based social media rules.\u2014<em>Rachel Oswald<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Beijing\u2019s influence on Latin America. <\/strong>Chinese President Xi Jinping <a href=\"https:\/\/english.news.cn\/20260203\/1e1124aa45b44541a2049938ae5492e3\/c.html\">signed<\/a> several cooperation agreements on Tuesday with Uruguayan President Yamand\u00fa Orsi focused on trade, infrastructure, and technology investments, among others areas. Xi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/chinas-xi-calls-equal-multipolar-world-he-meets-uruguay-leader-2026-02-03\/\">touted<\/a> the deals as necessary to \u201cadvance an equal and orderly multipolar world and an inclusive, universally beneficial economic globalization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Xi\u2019s comments, and the bolstering of bilateral ties, come despite pressure from the United States to keep <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/06\/05\/china-latin-america-us-celac-brics-summit\/\">Chinese influence<\/a> out of Latin America. \u201c[W]hat Washington wants from countries in the region is to stamp out migration, curb the drug trade, and fend off China,\u201d Eduardo Porter <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/02\/02\/trump-south-america-latin-china-venezuela-brazil-argentina-mexico-right-maga-china\/\">writes<\/a> in <em>Foreign Policy<\/em>. \u201cBut Trump\u2019s ask will be a very hard sell in countries further south, which have been building close economic relations with China for the past three decades.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orsi has tried to walk a fine line between the two global superpowers. Orsi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.plenglish.com\/news\/2026\/01\/04\/uruguay-reiterates-rejection-of-us-iimntervention-in-venezuela\/#:~:text=On%20January%204%2C%202026%2C%20President%20Yamandu%20Orsi,of%20coexistence%20and%20democratic%20life%20among%20nations**\">rejected<\/a> the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela immediately following the U.S. capture of Maduro, but he later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/3\/uruguay-president-orsi-deepens-ties-with-chinas-xi-despite-trump-threats\">called<\/a> it \u201cgood news, insofar as the authoritarian regime ceases to exist and democracy emerges.\u201d Orsi is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/3\/uruguay-president-orsi-deepens-ties-with-chinas-xi-despite-trump-threats\">first Latin American leader<\/a> to visit China since Maduro\u2019s ouster, and his 150-person delegation signals that Montevideo remains dedicated to fostering favorable trade relations with Beijing, regardless of what Washington wants.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>Odds and Ends<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ensuring a return trip to Rome just got a bit more expensive. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the city\u2019s iconic Trevi Fountain, then you will find yourself back in the Italian capital. But beginning on Monday, Italy is <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/vatican-trevi-fountain-fee-tourism-overtourism-rome-7c87061fab0da228317ed2a8edc717c7\">requiring<\/a> all tourists who want to do so to pay an additional 2 euros ($2.35) for access. The fee is aimed at limiting overtourism in the city and raising money for preservation efforts, and it follows a similar 5-euro (nearly $6) expense for non-Rome residents to visit some museums.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/02\/03\/trump-petro-meeting-colombia-drug-trafficking-cocaine-maduro\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at the presidents of the United States and Colombia meeting in Washington, Russia resuming its assault on Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure, and a crackdown on social media platforms in Europe. White House Showdown In a test of competing ideologies, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Colombian President Gustavo Petro [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politcical-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}