Trump Warns Colombia, Cuba Over Drugs After U.S. Forces Detain Maduro

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to other drug-producing nations in the Western Hemisphere, signaling he will no longer tolerate the flow of illicit materials into the United States.

His comments came just a day after U.S. forces arrested Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro for trial in the United States. Trump indicated that several other countries must change their approach.

“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man who likes to make cocaine and sell it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing that for very long, let me tell you,” Trump told reporters Sunday evening aboard Air Force One.

The president was referring to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a frequent critic who had condemned the weekend raid.

Trump has long complained about drug inflows and has previously used economic and military tools to curb them. He imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada over fentanyl imports and authorized U.S. strikes that sank boats in the Caribbean and Pacific which his administration said were involved in drug smuggling.

The president argued his campaign against Venezuela would also weaken its closest ally, Cuba, by cutting off revenue streams to Havana. He claimed that “a lot of Cubans were killed” during the U.S. operation in and around Caracas, asserting that Cuban soldiers were backing the Venezuelan military.

“Cuba looks like it’s about to fall,” Trump said, offering no evidence beyond its weak economic situation. “I don’t think we need to do anything.”

Regarding Mexico, one of the most active drug-trafficking countries in the hemisphere, Trump adopted a slightly more conciliatory tone. He has maintained a friendly relationship with the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum.

“Mexico’s got to get its act together, because the drugs are flowing through Mexico, and we’re going to have to do something,” Trump said. He added that he has repeatedly offered Sheinbaum the use of the U.S. military to “clean it up,” an offer she has publicly declined.

“We’d like Mexico to do it themselves. They’re capable of doing it. But unfortunately, the cartels are very powerful in Mexico,” he said.