Report: Trump Administration Blocked Meeting Between New York Mayor and Colombia’s President

The Colombian government canceled President Gustavo Petro’s meeting with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani following messages from Washington, the Washington Post reported. In Bogota, the U.S. State Department message was interpreted as a threat that Petro could be arrested if he held the meeting.

The meeting between Mamdani and Petro was canceled after U.S. officials made clear to the Colombians in Bogota that holding it was unacceptable to the Trump administration. According to the report, Colombia understood the American message as a warning that Petro could be arrested if he carried out the planned meeting in New York. Under U.S. pressure, Petro’s visit to New York for United Nations events was shortened, and Mamdani’s office was told that “no conversation” would be permitted between the two. It was described as a highly unusual intervention by the Trump administration.

A State Department source told the newspaper that the meeting would have violated visa restrictions imposed on Petro following his remarks last year. The Colombian president had previously called on American soldiers not to obey Trump’s presidential orders and sharply criticized U.S. aid to Israel. “A visa is a privilege, not a right,” the source said. “A person holding a visa risks having it revoked if he calls on soldiers not to obey the president’s orders.”

The move is considered unusual toward a democratically elected leader who is not ostracized in the international community. The incident adds to tensions between Trump and Mamdani, after Trump accused the mayor of “destroying New York” through tax increases. Petro and Trump have exchanged verbal blows in recent months. Petro accused Trump of “participating in the genocide in Gaza,” while the American president called him “a deranged person with many mental problems.”