Relations between President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have swung sharply from open confrontation to cautious engagement over the past year, setting the stage for a pivotal White House meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

Once considered a model partnership in the Western Hemisphere, U.S.–Colombia ties are now being tested by deep disagreements over drug policy, security cooperation and migration.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the visit, President Donald Trump suggested the tone between the two leaders has shifted in recent weeks, while underscoring that drug trafficking will dominate the talks.

"I mean, he’s been very nice over the last month or two," Trump said during a press availability. "They were certainly critical before that. But somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice. He changed his attitude. Very much so."

LATIN AMERICA FRACTURES OVER TRUMP’S MADURO CAPTURE AS REGIONAL ALLIES SHIFT RIGHT

Trump said he is looking forward to meeting Petro in person, while making clear that narcotics remain a central concern. "He’s coming in. We’re going to be talking about drugs because tremendous amounts of drugs come out of his country," Trump said. "And I look forward to seeing him. We’re going to have a good meeting."

Colombia has long been one of Washington’s closest partners in South America, particularly on counternarcotics and security. Bilateral cooperation expanded dramatically under Plan Colombia beginning in 2000, with U.S. military and law-enforcement assistance playing a central role in Colombia’s fight against insurgent groups and drug trafficking networks. That cooperation helped stabilize the country and eventually led the United States to designate Colombia a major Non-NATO ally. U.S. officials and analysts say that foundation has eroded in recent years amid diverging priorities and growing mistrust.

Tensions first erupted in January 2025, when Petro initially refused to allow U.S. deportation flights carrying Colombian nationals to land. The standoff prompted Trump to threaten tariffs, travel bans and visa restrictions before Colombia reversed course and agreed to accept the flights. The episode marked the first major rupture between the two leaders following Trump’s return to office.

Relations deteriorated further in September 2025, when Petro traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, participated in protests and publicly urged U.S. soldiers to "disobey the orders of Trump." The remarks prompted the U.S. State Department to revoke Petro’s visa on Sept. 27, 2025. The following month, the Trump administration announced punitive measures targeting Petro and members of his inner circle, citing concerns about drug trafficking and security cooperation.

Colombian officials denounced the moves as politically motivated. Trump publicly labeled Petro a "drug leader," suspended U.S. aid and threatened additional punitive measures, pushing relations to what observers described as their lowest point in decades.

TRUMP WARNS 'SICK' SOUTH AMERICAN LEADER, REITERATES 'WE NEED GREENLAND' FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

Signs of de-escalation emerged last month when the two leaders spoke by phone for the first time since the diplomatic breakdown. Trump later described the call as a "great honor," saying he appreciated Petro’s tone and looked forward to meeting him in person. Both sides agreed to restart dialogue on contentious issues, including counternarcotics, migration and trade. Colombia subsequently resumed U.S. deportation flights as part of broader efforts to stabilize relations, paving the way for Tuesday’s face-to-face meeting.

Melissa Ford Maldonado, director of the Western Hemisphere Initiative at the America First Policy Institute, said the visit highlights how much is now at stake for both countries.

"Colombia remains the most important U.S. partner in South America, but that status is conditional, and lately it’s been under real strain, largely because of President Gustavo Petro’s tolerance for criminal networks that threaten both Colombian sovereignty and American security," Maldonado told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET

She said the Trump administration’s objectives heading into the meeting are likely focused on restoring what she described as "real cooperation" on counternarcotics and security after years of drift.

"Counternarcotics and security cooperation will likely dominate the conversation," Maldonado said, pointing to record cocaine production and what she described as growing tolerance within parts of the Colombian state for criminal networks. She argued that Washington has increasingly treated Colombia as failing to meet U.S. expectations in the fight against illegal drugs.

Maldonado said the administration has signaled it is no longer willing to accommodate governments it believes enable narco-criminal ecosystems.

"What to watch going forward is whether Colombia chooses to course-correct or continues drifting toward the model next door, which blurred the line between the state and organized crime," she said. "Colombia earned its status as a major Non-NATO Ally through decades of sacrifice. That trust has been badly damaged, but it is not beyond repair if Colombia demonstrates genuine resolve against cartels, rejects political cover for criminal groups and realigns clearly with the United States on hemispheric security."

She added, "This visit should make one thing unmistakable: the United States wants a strong, sovereign Colombia. It is in America’s best interest. However, it will not tolerate ambiguity when it comes to narco-terrorism, regional security or the safety of the American people," Maldonado said.  

FIRST ON FOX: Multiple documents released by Argentine President Javier Milei last year reveal how Argentina’s search for Nazi war criminals, who found refuge in the country during and after the Second World War, were able to avoid arrest and, for the most part, live ordinary lives.

While Argentina’s Peronist government sympathized and often knew of Nazi criminals hiding in their territory – often under their auspices – once the populist regime fell, the South American nation half-heartedly tried to keep tabs on the war criminals hiding there. 

Though many high-profile cases went nowhere, the case of Hitler’s henchman Martin Bormann is exemplary in showing how inefficient Argentina was in its investigations.

ARGENTINA REVEALS SECRET WWII FILES ON HITLER'S HENCHMEN WHO FLED BEFORE, AFTER THE WAR

Bormann was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi regime, despite his relatively low profile to the public. He used his position as private secretary to Hitler and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery to control the flow of documents personally received by Hitler and who had access to him.

Through enormous administrative influence, he shaped policy and controlled what Hitler saw, who he met, and advised on major decisions. Bormann supported extreme antisemitic measures and was one of the masterminds of the Aryanization project. Bormann disappeared in May 1945 during the fall of Berlin. For decades, it was speculated he had fled to Argentina along the ratlines — escape routes facilitated by Nazi sympathizers. Bormann was sentenced to death in absentia during the Nuremberg Trials.

The files show that Bormann was one of the very few Nazis the Argentinians actively tried to pursue and bring to justice. However, most of the leads came from sensationalist press articles often devoid of factual and actionable intelligence beyond the mere mention that he was hiding in Argentina.

The files meticulously depict intelligence agencies trying to corroborate such reports and assert whether the floated false aliases matched the actual man in Argentina. Agencies followed information coming from reports in the Argentine, U.S., British and Brazilian press, along with some translations from German-language media published in Argentina by the émigré community who were suspected of harboring Nazi sympathizers.

The articles triggered extensive paper trails between the ministry of justice, intelligence bodies, border and customs agencies, the federal police, and local authorities, but were often disconnected from one another, or took a long time to be referred to the various sub-offices for action.

ARGENTINA REVEALS SECRET WWII FILES ON HITLER'S HENCHMEN WHO FLED BEFORE, AFTER THE WAR

As a result, multiple similar searches were carried out at various points haphazardly and a tangle of bureaucracy made authorities play catch up to press reports rather than conduct independent and rational investigations. The files are a testament that the hunt for Nazis in South America was shaped by rumor, miscommunication, mistaken identities, Cold War politics and intense media speculation.

Some of the information reviewed by Fox News Digital showed authorities took rumors such as a hunt for Bormann in the jungles of Peru, Colombia and Brazil as credible. A case of an elderly German man detained in Colombia in 1972 as Bormann (later cleared and released) despite voiced skepticism by Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is also part of the files.

The diplomatic shockwaves that followed Israel’s Mossad seizing Adolf Eichmann in Argentina left local officials acutely sensitive to international scrutiny, recasting the search for Bormann as a bid to ensure the country would not be embarrassed on the world stage a second time.

A pivotal—and ultimately flawed—lead in the Bormann files emerged in 1955, when police, relying on fading testimonies about an illegal German laborer, along with rumors, seized correspondence and aging witnesses, began pursuing a man named Walter Wilhelm Flegel.

Flegel had arrived through Chile, was missing an arm due to an accident, and had been previously arrested and brought to court twice on assault and robbery charges. Suspicions led to his arrest in Mendoza in 1960 despite his complete dissemblance, lack of education, long presence in the country, age gaps and missing factual connections that could tie him to Bormann. Notwithstanding such mismatching profiles — and fingerprints — it still took a week for Argentinians to be convinced Flegel was not Bormann and free him.

Ultimately, despite continued rumors, and Argentina’s singular resolve in finally arresting one of the many Nazi fugitives thought to be in the country, human remains found in Berlin in 1972 were a match and confirmed Bormann’s death during the city’s fall through dental and cranial records. Later, in the 1990s, further DNA testing confirmed the remains found in Berlin indeed belonged to Bormann, bringing the misdirected Argentinian search finally to a close.

The Federal Aviation Administration warned pilots of U.S. airlines about flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing possible "military activities" and satellite navigation interference. 

The warning was issued Friday in a series of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) distributed by the FAA, which said, "Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight and the arrival and departure phases of flight." 

"The FAA issued flight advisory Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) for specified areas of Mexico, Central American, Panama, Bogata, Guayaquil, and Mazatlán Oceanic Flight Regions, and in airspace within the eastern Pacific Ocean," the agency also told USA Today. 

It’s unclear what prompted the advisories, which tell aircraft operators to "exercise caution." Fox News Digital has reached out to the FAA for comment.

TRUMP DISCUSSES EXPANSION OF DRUG CARTEL CRACKDOWN

The notices come after months of U.S. military strikes against suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific. 

In November, the FAA had warned all pilots to exercise caution when flying in the airspace over Venezuela "due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity." 

In December, a JetBlue flight from the Caribbean nation of Curaçao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker.

HEGSETH SIGNS OFF ON WOUNDED US TROOPS KEEPING BULLETS, SHRAPNEL REMOVED FROM THEIR BODIES AFTER MADURO RAID

Earlier this month, the Trump administration carried out a military operation capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. 

President Donald Trump also recently told Fox News that the U.S. will expand operations against drug cartels.  

"We've knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water, and we are going to start now hitting land," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in early January. "The cartels are running Mexico, it’s very sad to watch and see what’s happened to that country."

The latest FAA notices will be in effect for 60 days. 

Fox News Digital’s Nora Moriarty and The Associated Press contributed to this report.