Rabia Iclal Turan
03 January 2026•Update: 03 January 2026
WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump issued a direct warning to Colombia’s president following the US military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and took him out of the country.
Asked at a Florida press conference about Gustavo Petro saying he was not concerned about repercussions from the strikes on his neighbor, Trump claimed Petro “has cocaine mills” and “factories where he makes cocaine,” adding that “they’re sending it into the United States.”
“So he does have to watch his a--,” Trump added.
Last year, in the runup to the strikes on Venezuela, Trump frequently accused Caracas of being responsible for illegal drugs coming into the US.
On Cuba, Trump described the island country as “a failing nation” and criticized its leadership for what he called decades of economic collapse and suffering.
“The people there have suffered for many, many years, and I think Cuba is going to be something we'll end up talking about,” he said.
“We want to help the people in Cuba, but we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba and living in this country,” he added. Florida has a large expatriate Cuban community that is well known for its fierce opposition to the island’s communist government.
Speaking alongside Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio -- a Cuban American born in Miami -- said: “Cuba is a disaster. It’s run by incompetent, senile men, and in some cases, not senile, but incompetent.”
He added: “All the guards that helped protect Maduro -- this is well known -- their whole spy agency, all of that, were full of Cubans. I mean, they basically, it’s amazing, this poor island took over Venezuela in some cases. One of the biggest problems the Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba.”
