Trump says Colombia's 'El Tigre' will be a 'great president' as socialist opponent launches legal challenge

President Donald Trump congratulated Conservative lawyer and businessman Abelardo de la Espriella connected becoming president of Colombia Monday astatine the White House. Yet portion helium holds a slim pb and is the favourite to triumph implicit left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, authorities person yet to officially certify the result.

With 99.9% of votes counted, de la Espriella led with 49.7% to Cepeda's 48.7%. De la Espriella, known to his supporters arsenic "El Tigre," dominated successful the country's mountainous interior and the vote-rich authorities of Antioquia, portion Cepeda won successful the superior Bogotá and performed good successful coastal regions, pursuing trends of caller statesmanlike elections.

Cepeda has challenged the results, citing irregularities astatine thousands of polling stations. Nonetheless, overturning the predetermination would beryllium unprecedented successful Colombian history.

If de la Espriella does clasp retired and wins, it volition reflector a continent-wide rightward displacement seen successful caller electoral results successful Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, wherever blimpish Keiko Fujimori appears poised to triumph the presidency.

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Colombia's right-wing statesmanlike campaigner Abelardo de la Espriella, from the Defensores de la Patria movement, delivers a code to supporters during a run rally successful Palmira, adjacent Cali, Colombia connected May 14, 2026. Colombia volition clasp statesmanlike elections connected May 31.  (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump congratulated de la Espriella during a signing astatine the White House connected Monday. Trump told reporters that, "He called maine past night, and helium thanked maine for the endorsement. He won. He won the election," Trump added successful effect to a question connected relations betwixt the U.S. and Colombia that things would beryllium "Much better. It'll beryllium better. He's going to beryllium a large president."

The predetermination featured 2 candidates representing polar opposites of the Colombian governmental spectrum. De la Espriella, known arsenic ‘El Tigre’ by his supporters, has enjoyed the enthusiastic backing of Donald Trump, promised a instrumentality to the law-and-order attack of erstwhile President Alvaro Uribe, and pledged an assertive subject run against guerrilla groups and transgression organizations, portion Cepeda vowed to proceed the negotiation-based strategy of Petro, a longtime governmental ally.

Ivan Cepeda is simply a longtime fig connected the Colombian left, and served arsenic legislator for 12 years, pursuing a four-year stint successful the Chamber of Representatives. His father, Manuel Cepeda, was a salient fig successful the Colombian Communist Party, and was assassinated successful 1994 during a peculiarly bloody epoch successful Colombia's interior conflict.

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Colombia's statesmanlike campaigner Abelardo de la Espriella, of the Defensores de la Patria party, speaks down bulletproof solid during his closing run rally successful Medellin, Colombia connected May 24, 2026. Colombia volition clasp statesmanlike elections connected May 31.  (Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP Via Getty Images)

The archetypal circular of the election, held connected May 31, saw de la Espriella triumph 43.7% of the vote, to Cepeda's 40.9%, with right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia placing a distant third, astatine 6.9%.

On Sunday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated de la Espriella connected the result, saying, "The Trump Administration looks guardant to moving intimately with your incoming medication to beforehand determination information cooperation, extremity amerciable migration to the United States."

Ivan Cepeda speaks during a run rally successful Cali, Colombia, connected June 6, 2026. The leftist campaigner is acceptable to look blimpish lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella successful Colombia's June 21 statesmanlike runoff election. (AFP via Getty Images)

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While the issues driving American and Colombian authorities stay considerably distinct, de la Espriella's insurgent outsider run emulated Trump's successful galore ways, peculiarly successful the consciousness that neither held elected nor appointed bureau anterior to winning the presidency, launching palmy campaigns astir wholly extracurricular the existing enactment structure.

The defining information and information contented acceptable de la Espriella connected a winning course, arsenic helium honed thing of a strongman representation to forcefully critique the Petro administration's argumentation of bid done dialog with equipped groups successful absorption to the Colombian government.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, left, and President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, Trump said Petro volition "be next" amid escalating tensions implicit U.S. subject strikes successful the Caribbean and cause trafficking operations. (Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images; Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It is wide believed that Petro's negotiation-based attack and restraint with respect to subject enactment has allowed specified groups arsenic the ELN (National Liberation Army), and assorted dissident elements of the FARC to regroup, boost recruitment and regain power of cardinal territory and cause trafficking routes.

De la Espriella promised a instrumentality to an assertive subject run to reclaim territory from violent groups and cartels, and pledged to physique "mega-prisons", citing the policies of El Salvador's Nayib Bukele arsenic a exemplary for eradicating transgression groups.

A de la Espriella medication volition besides apt people a instrumentality to free-market economics, decreased governmental involution successful the economy, and a renewed propulsion to little taxes.

A strengthened U.S.-Colombia narration is besides a certainty, pursuing an epoch of sizeable tensions betwixt Petro and Trump, which led to a bid of acrimonious societal media exchanges. Historically, Colombia was the U.S.' strongest state successful the region, but the narration has weakened considerably nether the tenure of Petro.

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Political analysts volition besides beryllium intimately watching the dynamic betwixt Colombia and Venezuela.  De la Espriella is apt to travel the Trump administration's pb successful Bogotá's attack to the caller Delcy Rodriguez administration, demanding a timeline for escaped and just elections, and calling connected the Venezuelan authorities to aggressively prosecute the ELN Marxist guerrilla radical successful borderline regions wherever it has agelong sought refuge, and had an allegedly adjacent narration with erstwhile dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.