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Trump vs. Petro: A Thaw in Relations or Return to Diplomatic War?

9 1
04.02.2026

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the presidents of the United States and Colombia meeting in Washington, Russia resuming its assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and a crackdown on social media platforms in Europe.

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—already a rarity in Trump’s TV presidency—as 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.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the presidents of the United States and Colombia meeting in Washington, Russia resuming its assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and a crackdown on social media platforms in Europe.

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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—already a rarity in Trump’s TV presidency—as 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.

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.

According to one Colombian advisor, though, Petro was cautioned to avoid topics that could lead to a diplomatic blowup, like the one that occurred between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last year. Instead, Colombian officials reportedly planned to use Tuesday’s meeting to deliver a detailed presentation on their anti-drug achievements, including cocaine seizures, in a bid to appease the White House; Colombia is the world’s top producer of coca, the main ingredient in cocaine.

Petro is........

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