WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is set to welcome Colombian President Gustavo Petro to the White House on Tuesday for talks only weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States.
US administration officials say the meeting will focus on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts. And Trump on Monday suggested that Petro — who has continued to criticize Trump and the US operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — seems more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia.
“Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” Trump told reporters. “He changed his attitude very much.”
Yet, bad blood between the leaders overshadows the sit-down, even as Trump sought to downplay any friction on the eve of the visit.
The conservative Trump and leftist Petro are ideologically far apart, but both leaders share a tendency for verbal bombast and unpredictability. That sets the stage for a White House visit with an anything-could-happen vibe.
In recent days, Petro has continued poking at the US president, calling Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in the Gaza Strip, while asserting that the capture of Maduro was a kidnapping.
And ahead of his departure for Washington, Petro called on Colombians to take to the streets of Bogotá during the White House meeting.
There’s been a shift in US-Colombia relations
Historically, Colombia has been a US ally. For the past 30 years, the US has worked closely with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off rebel groups and boost economic development in rural areas.
But relations between the leaders have been strained by Trump’s massing US forces in the region for unprecedented deadly military strikes targeting suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. At least 126 people have been killed in 36 known strikes.
In October, the Trump administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade.
The Treasury Department leveled the penalties against Petro; his wife, Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia; his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos; and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti.
The sanctions, which had to be waived to allow Petro to travel to Washington this week, came after the US administration in September announced it was adding Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades.
Then came the audacious military operation last month to capture Maduro and his wife to face federal drug conspiracy charges, a move that Petro has forcefully denounced. Following Maduro’s ouster, Trump put Colombia on notice, and ominously warned Petro he could be next.
Colombia is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said of Petro last month. “And he’s not gonna be doing it very long, let me tell you.”
But a few days later, tensions eased somewhat after a call between the leaders. Trump said Petro in their hourlong conversation explained “the drug situation and other disagreements.” And Trump extended an invitation to Petro for the White House visit.
Trump on a couple of occasions has used the typically scripted leaders’ meetings to deliver stern rebukes to counterparts in front of the press.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February for showing insufficient gratitude for US support of Ukraine. Trump also used a White House meeting in May to forcefully confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa,accusing the country, with reporters present, of failing to address Trump’s baseless claim of the systematic killing of white farmers.
It was not clear that the meeting between Trump and Petro would include a portion in front of cameras.
![]()
Trump to host Colombia’s Petro just weeks after insulting him as a ‘sick man’ fueling drug trade
Short Url
https://arab.news/2a6nn
Trump to host Colombia’s Petro just weeks after insulting him as a ‘sick man’ fueling drug trade
- US administration officials say the meeting will focus on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts
Greenland prepares next generation for mining future
SISIMIUT: At the Greenland School of Minerals and Petroleum, a dozen students in hi-viz vests and helmets are out for the day learning to operate bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators and other equipment.
The Greenlandic government is counting on this generation to help fulfill its dream of a lucrative mining future for the vast Arctic territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.
Founded in 2008, the school, based in El-Sisimiut in the southwest of the island, offers students from across Greenland a three-year post-secondary vocational training.
Apart from their practical classes, the students, aged 18 to 35, also learn the basics of geology, rock mechanics, maths and English.
Teacher Kim Heilmann keeps a watchful eye on his students as they learn to maneuver the heavy equipment.
“I want them to know it’s possible to mine in Greenland if you do it the right way,” he told AFP.
“But mostly the challenge is to make them motivated about mining,” he added.
The remote location of Greenland’s two operational mines, and the ensuing isolation, puts many people off, the school’s director Emilie Olsen Skjelsager said.
A Danish autonomous territory, Greenland gained control over its raw materials and minerals in 2009.
The local government relies heavily on Danish subsidies to complement its revenues from fishing, and is hoping that mining and tourism will bring it financial independence in the future so that it can someday cut ties with Denmark.
“The school was created because there is hope for more activities in mining, but also to have more skilled workers in Greenland for heavy machine operating and drilling and blasting, and exploration services,” Olsen Skjelsager said.
By the end of their studies, some of the students — “a small number, maybe up to five” — will go on to work in the mines.
The rest will work on construction sites.
- Lack of skills -
Greenland is home to 57,000 people, and has historically relied on foreign workers to develop mining projects due to a lack of local know-how.
“We have some good people that can go out mining and blasting and drilling and all that kind of stuff,” explained Deputy Minister of Minerals Resources, Jorgen T Hammeken-Holm.
“But if you have a production facility close to the mining facility, then you need some technical skills in these processing facilities,” he said.
“There is a lack of educated people to do that.”
Going forward, geologists, engineers and economists will be needed, especially as Greenland’s traditional livelihoods of hunting and fishing are expected to gradually die out as professions.
The students’ tuition is paid by the Greenland government, which also gives them a monthly stipend of around 5,000 kroner ($800).
Inside the school, a glass case displays some of the minerals that lie — or are believed to lie — under Greenland, including cryolite, anorthosite and eudialyte, which contains rare earth elements essential to the green and digital transitions.
“New mine sites have been searched (for) all over Greenland,” said Angerla Berthelsen, a 30-year-old student who hopes to find a job in the mining sector one day.
There are “lots of possibilities” in Greenland, he said, sounding an optimistic note.
- Doubts over deposits -
But questions remain about Greenland’s actual resources, with the existence and size of the deposits still to be confirmed.
According to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Greenland is home to 24 of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the EU as essential for the green and digital transitions.
“A large variety of geological terrains exists, which have been formed by many different processes. As a result, Greenland has several types of metals, minerals and gemstones,” it says in a document on its website.
“However, only in a few cases have the occurrences been thoroughly quantified, which is a prerequisite for classifying them as actual deposits,” it stressed.
Deputy minister Hammeken-Holm said it was “more or less a guess” for now.
“Nobody knows actually.”
In addition, the island — with its harsh Arctic climate and no roads connecting its towns — currently doesn’t have the infrastructure needed for large-scale mining.
There are currently only two operational mines on the island — one gold mine in the south, and one for anorthosite, a rock containing titanium, on the west coast.
The Greenlandic government is counting on this generation to help fulfill its dream of a lucrative mining future for the vast Arctic territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.
Founded in 2008, the school, based in El-Sisimiut in the southwest of the island, offers students from across Greenland a three-year post-secondary vocational training.
Apart from their practical classes, the students, aged 18 to 35, also learn the basics of geology, rock mechanics, maths and English.
Teacher Kim Heilmann keeps a watchful eye on his students as they learn to maneuver the heavy equipment.
“I want them to know it’s possible to mine in Greenland if you do it the right way,” he told AFP.
“But mostly the challenge is to make them motivated about mining,” he added.
The remote location of Greenland’s two operational mines, and the ensuing isolation, puts many people off, the school’s director Emilie Olsen Skjelsager said.
A Danish autonomous territory, Greenland gained control over its raw materials and minerals in 2009.
The local government relies heavily on Danish subsidies to complement its revenues from fishing, and is hoping that mining and tourism will bring it financial independence in the future so that it can someday cut ties with Denmark.
“The school was created because there is hope for more activities in mining, but also to have more skilled workers in Greenland for heavy machine operating and drilling and blasting, and exploration services,” Olsen Skjelsager said.
By the end of their studies, some of the students — “a small number, maybe up to five” — will go on to work in the mines.
The rest will work on construction sites.
- Lack of skills -
Greenland is home to 57,000 people, and has historically relied on foreign workers to develop mining projects due to a lack of local know-how.
“We have some good people that can go out mining and blasting and drilling and all that kind of stuff,” explained Deputy Minister of Minerals Resources, Jorgen T Hammeken-Holm.
“But if you have a production facility close to the mining facility, then you need some technical skills in these processing facilities,” he said.
“There is a lack of educated people to do that.”
Going forward, geologists, engineers and economists will be needed, especially as Greenland’s traditional livelihoods of hunting and fishing are expected to gradually die out as professions.
The students’ tuition is paid by the Greenland government, which also gives them a monthly stipend of around 5,000 kroner ($800).
Inside the school, a glass case displays some of the minerals that lie — or are believed to lie — under Greenland, including cryolite, anorthosite and eudialyte, which contains rare earth elements essential to the green and digital transitions.
“New mine sites have been searched (for) all over Greenland,” said Angerla Berthelsen, a 30-year-old student who hopes to find a job in the mining sector one day.
There are “lots of possibilities” in Greenland, he said, sounding an optimistic note.
- Doubts over deposits -
But questions remain about Greenland’s actual resources, with the existence and size of the deposits still to be confirmed.
According to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Greenland is home to 24 of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the EU as essential for the green and digital transitions.
“A large variety of geological terrains exists, which have been formed by many different processes. As a result, Greenland has several types of metals, minerals and gemstones,” it says in a document on its website.
“However, only in a few cases have the occurrences been thoroughly quantified, which is a prerequisite for classifying them as actual deposits,” it stressed.
Deputy minister Hammeken-Holm said it was “more or less a guess” for now.
“Nobody knows actually.”
In addition, the island — with its harsh Arctic climate and no roads connecting its towns — currently doesn’t have the infrastructure needed for large-scale mining.
There are currently only two operational mines on the island — one gold mine in the south, and one for anorthosite, a rock containing titanium, on the west coast.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.