WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, saying they had exchanged a friendly phone call and he\u2019d even invited the leader of the South American country to the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,\u201d Trump posted on his social media site. \u201cI appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.\u201d He said that meeting would take place at the White House.<\/p>\n
That came mere days after Trump\u00a0said in the wake<\/a>\u00a0of the U.S. operation to oust Venezuelan\u00a0President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>\u00a0over the weekend that \u201cColombia is very sick too\u201d and accused Petro of \u201dmaking cocaine and selling it to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n In comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump added of Petro, \u201cHe\u2019s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you.\u201d Asked whether U.S. intervention was possible, Trump responded, \u201dSounds good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump now suddenly warming to Prieto is especially surprising since Colombia\u2019s president called the U.S. operation in Venezuela an \u201cabhorrent\u201d violation of\u00a0Latin American sovereignty<\/a>\u00a0and suggested it was committed by \u201censlavers\u201d and constituted a \u201cspectacle of death\u201d comparable to Nazi Germany\u2019s 1937 carpet bombing of Guernica, Spain.<\/p>\n Before Trump\u2019s conciliatory post, tensions had been rising between the U.S. and Colombia for months.<\/p>\n The Trump administration imposed sanctions in October on\u00a0Petro<\/a>, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade. Colombia is considered the epicenter of the world\u2019s cocaine trade.<\/p>\n Trump began his monthslong pressure campaign on Maduro by ordering dozens of lethal strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats launched from Venezuela in the Caribbean. He eventually expanded the operations to also target suspected vessels in the eastern Pacific that came from Colombia.<\/p>\n