ISTANBUL 

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would end all US aid and subsidies to Colombia, accusing President Gustavo Petro of overseeing large-scale drug production and failing to curb narcotics trafficking.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Petro “an illegal drug leader” who has allowed the cultivation of narcotics “in big and small fields all over Colombia,” despite what he described as “large-scale payments and subsidies from the USA.”

“As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment, or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia,” Trump wrote, adding that drug production in the South American nation fuels “death, destruction, and havoc” in the United States.

Trump also criticized Petro as “a low-rated and very unpopular leader” and warned that if Colombia did not act to halt drug cultivation, “the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”

Tensions between the two nations have intensified after a series of US strikes in Caribbean waters, which the country says target suspected drug traffickers.

President Petro posted on the US social media company X that the latest strike killed Alejandro Carranza, a fisherman with no connection to drug trafficking, and violated Colombian sovereignty. He said the boat was adrift with its distress signal activated and its motor turned off and called on Washington for an explanation.