Colombia's newly inaugurated president, a conservative whom Trump backed in a June runoff, is now asking Washington to temporarily suspend tariffs on Colombian goods as the country reels from a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 289 people.

President Abelardo de la Espriella said Saturday night on X that he had spoken with Trump by phone, thanked him for American disaster aid, and made a direct appeal for tariff relief. De la Espriella wrote on the platform that he had asked Trump to consider temporarily suspending the tariffs that weigh on Colombian exports, framing the request as urgent help for a business community already devastated by the quake.

The Trump administration had not responded publicly to the request as of Saturday night. But the ask itself marks one of the clearest tests yet of whether a friendly relationship with the White House can translate into concrete economic relief, and whether Trump's tariff leverage will bend even for an ally in crisis.

A quake that leveled entire neighborhoods

The earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, centered in the Chocó region along the Pacific coast, one of the poorest parts of the country. The tremor registered 7.4 in magnitude and sent destruction rippling through cities including Pereira, Cali, and Quibdó.

The Colombian government's toll stood at 289 dead, 3,937 injured, and 143 officially listed as missing. But civilian-run databases put the number of missing far higher, in the thousands, AP News reported. In Cali alone, Colombia's third-largest city, more than 70 people remained unaccounted for.

The physical damage was staggering. Government figures counted 14,705 homes destroyed and another 81,536 damaged, numbers that will climb as crews reach more remote areas in Chocó.

Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder, speaking from a unified command post in the city, said rescue teams were still working sites where victims were believed trapped, well past the 48-to-72-hour window that typically defines survivable conditions under rubble. More than 120 hours had elapsed since the quake hit.

"Miracles do happen. We are working where we know there are still victims; we are working in the hope of rescuing people alive."

Eder's words carried the weight of a city that knows the math is grim but refuses to stop digging.

De la Espriella frames tariff relief as disaster aid

De la Espriella took office earlier this month after winning a closely contested presidential runoff on June 21. Trump had backed the conservative candidate during the campaign, and the new president has emphasized his ties to Washington since taking power.

Now, barely settled into office, de la Espriella faces a national catastrophe, and he is leaning on that relationship. His post on X made the logic explicit:

"[I] asked him to consider the temporary suspension of the high tariffs that affect Colombian products, in order to provide relief to our businesspeople, who are facing very difficult times due to the effects of the earthquake."

The request bundles two separate pressures into one appeal. Colombian exporters were already absorbing the cost of U.S. tariffs before the earthquake struck. Now, with supply chains disrupted, infrastructure wrecked, and thousands displaced, de la Espriella is arguing that tariff relief amounts to humanitarian aid by another name.

The U.S. State Department, for its part, announced $26.5 million in earthquake assistance, including food, temporary shelters, and health supplies. De la Espriella thanked Trump for the aid package during their call. But the tariff question remains unanswered.

Trump's tariff leverage has bent other nations before

De la Espriella's request arrives against a backdrop of foreign governments learning, sometimes the hard way, that Trump means what he says on trade. France faced a similar calculation when Trump threatened 100 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne over a digital services tax, and Paris eventually moved to defuse the standoff.

The pattern has repeated across industries and continents. Toyota announced a $3.6 billion investment in a Texas plant, a move Trump credited to tariff pressure on foreign automakers. Courts have upheld the administration's authority to impose and adjust tariffs, giving the White House broad room to operate.

Colombia's own recent history with Washington underscores how quickly the relationship can sour, and how fast a foreign leader can reverse course. Under de la Espriella's predecessor, Gustavo Petro, the two countries clashed bitterly. Petro refused to accept U.S. deportation flights in January 2025, prompting Trump to threaten tariffs and visa bans. Colombia reversed its position within days. Trump later revoked Petro's visa entirely after the Colombian leader urged American soldiers at the U.N. General Assembly to "disobey the orders of Trump," and the White House publicly labeled Petro a "drug leader" before suspending U.S. aid. Relations hit their lowest point in decades.

Trump himself noted the shift in Petro's posture before the Colombian left office.

"I mean, he's been very nice over the last month or two. They were certainly critical before that. But somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice. He changed his attitude. Very much so."

De la Espriella represents the opposite approach, a leader who aligned with Trump before taking office and is now testing whether that alignment earns him flexibility on trade.

Gaps between government numbers and reality on the ground

One of the most unsettling details in the aftermath is the gulf between official and unofficial counts of the missing. The Colombian government listed 143 people as unaccounted for. Civilian-run databases, the specifics of which remain unclear, placed the figure in the thousands.

That discrepancy matters. It shapes how much aid flows, where rescue teams deploy, and how long search operations continue. In Cali, Mayor Eder's decision to keep crews working past the 120-hour mark suggests local officials believe the real toll is worse than the national numbers show.

The Chocó region, where the earthquake's epicenter was located, is remote and historically underserved. It is one of the poorest parts of Colombia. Infrastructure there was limited before the quake. Reaching affected communities, and counting who survived, will take time that many victims may not have.

Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner noted that de la Espriella has emphasized his personal connections to Trump as he navigates both the disaster response and the broader economic pressure Colombian businesses face under existing tariffs. The question is whether a phone call and a public post on X are enough to move the needle in Washington.

No answer yet from the White House

As of Saturday night, the Trump administration had offered no public response to the tariff suspension request. The $26.5 million in aid, food, shelters, health supplies, stands as the official American contribution so far. Whether Trump views tariff relief as a separate matter or as part of the same conversation remains unknown.

De la Espriella declared the earthquake a natural disaster, a formal step that opens the door to additional international aid mechanisms. But tariffs are a presidential decision, not a bureaucratic one. If relief comes, it will come because Trump decides to grant it, not because a process compels it.

Courts have already upheld the administration's tariff authority, giving the White House wide discretion. That means Trump has the power to act, and the power to say no.

For a president who has used tariffs to bring multinational corporations, European allies, and hostile Latin American governments to the table, the request from Bogotá is a different kind of test. De la Espriella is not an adversary trying to save face. He is a friend asking for help, and framing that help as a matter of survival for Colombian workers and business owners buried under rubble and red ink alike.

Whether friendship earns a different answer than defiance did is now up to one man in Washington.