BOGOTA, Colombia

President Gustavo Petro has expressed rare support for his US counterpart Donald Trump, backing the designation of fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction (WMD)" while urging Washington to acknowledge the drug's domestic origins.

The endorsement follows a landmark executive order signed by President Trump on Monday during an Oval Office ceremony. The order officially reclassifies illicit fentanyl as WMDs, a move designed to unleash national security and military-support authorities against international trafficking networks.

Writing on US social media company X, Petro agreed that the synthetic opioid represents a danger to American society.

"I agree with Trump that fentanyl is the most lethal weapon of mass destruction threatening US society," Petro stated. "My country will do everything it can to prevent the arrival of supplies for its production."

But referencing a recent extradition case, the Colombian leader noted that the suspect in question—a Colombian national—was allegedly operating a production site in Pennsylvania, rather than South America.

"It is a weapon of mass destruction, and the US must ensure that it is no longer produced mainly in the US," Petro added.

The WMD designation is the latest pillar in President Trump's intensified, militarized approach to narcotics. During the signing, Trump compared the impact of the drug to conventional warfare.

"No bomb does what this is doing," and estimated that fentanyl-related deaths reach between 200,000 and 300,000 annually.

This policy shift includes authorizing military strikes on vessels suspected of carrying illicit cargo in the Caribbean and Pacific.

On Tuesday, the US State Department officially designated Colombia’s Clan del Golfo—the country’s largest criminal gang—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

The consensus on fentanyl comes amid a period of historic tension between the two leaders. While Petro has pledged to block fentanyl precursors, he remains a vocal critic of US military strikes in the Caribbean.