White House Press Release Misspells Colombia, Sparks Row

A spelling error in a White House press release has gone viral amid the ongoing diplomatic row between US President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro. The press release, which has since been deleted, mistakenly referred to "Colombia" as "Columbia" while announcing Trump's declaration of tariffs against the country.

Social media exploded with criticism when the screenshot of the press release went viral. Several users made fun of the Trump administration for the blunder, with some highlighting the irony in light of Trump's promise to select "the best people." 

Trump supporters, questioning the authenticity of the widely shared screenshot, dismissed the criticism saying, small errors shouldn't outweigh important policy decisions.

Trump's White House misspelled ‘Colombia' as ‘Columbia'…confusing the country with the University in an official announcement???? pic.twitter.com/TPQKg8nnuY

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 26, 2025

Jeff Stein, an economics reporter for The Washington Post, remarked, "I know Barron (Trump) is going to NYU, but it seems like a little much."

I know Barron is going to NYU but it seems like a little much pic.twitter.com/fthleSNdAt

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) January 26, 2025

Former Trump campaign aide AJ Delgado also weighed in, expressing disbelief. "Did a White House Press Release really misspell Colombia? I remember how much I had to proofread and correct BASIC mistakes in drafts by others on the 2016 campaign, but this is... wow," she wrote. She went a step further, bluntly stating, "Only the dumbest of the dumb work in this White House."

The incident has only added fuel to the already heated exchanges between the two nations, with critics using the typo as another example of what they see as carelessness within the Trump administration.

The US has deported several Colombian nationals back to their home country, but the Colombian government refused to accept them. In response, the US threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Colombian imports, further straining relations between the two nations.

This compelled the Colombian government to relent and agree to accept the deportees.