Trump makes up with Colombia’s Petro in fireworks-free meeting

US President Donald Trump appeared to bury the hatchet with his Colombian counterpart on Tuesday after months of tensions, praising the leftist leader as he hosted him behind closed doors at the White House.

“You are great,” Trump wrote to Gustavo Petro as he signed a copy of his 1987 book Art of the Deal, according to a picture posted by the Colombian president after their first ever face-to-face meeting.

The two leaders had duelled online for months over drugs and immigration, while Trump even threatened to topple Petro in a Venezuela-style military operation just a few weeks ago.

But any expectations of televised fireworks like those when Trump hosted Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky last year were quelled when reporters were shut out of the Oval Office meeting with Petro.

In a low profile entrance, the Colombian’s car arrived by a side gate with none of the flags and military fanfare typically accorded to heads of state visiting the White House.

And instead of facing questions about whether Petro should still “watch his a**” as Trump warned in January, it was left to the Colombian leader and his office to post pictures of their encounter.