MIAMI — U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Abelardo De la Espriella, Colombia’s new president-elect, during a phone call on Sunday, according to De La Espriella’s campaign.
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De la Espriella, a defense attorney who campaigned as the law-and-order candidate “El Tigre,” or “The Tiger,” and José Manuel Restrepo, a former finance minister and the vice president-elect, celebrated in Barranquilla.
“He Won, BIG,” Trump wrote on Truth Social about De la Espriella on Sunday night.
About 41 million Colombians were eligible to vote, 26.3 million cast their ballots in the runoff election, including 12.9 million who voted for De la Espriella, according to Colombia’s National Registry.
With 99.99% of the polling stations’ ballots tallied, 49.66% voted for De La Espriella, 47, and 48.7% for Cepeda, 63, according to the runoff election’s results released by Colombia’s National Registry on Sunday.
As Colombian judges scrutinized the preliminary results of the runoff presidential election, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Iván Cepeda, the left-wing presidential candidate, did not recognize the results.
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“As of today, there is no elected president until the electoral commissions deliver their results,” Petro wrote in a statement released on X on Sunday night. “As I said this morning, I will accept the result that the judges declare because that is what the law orders.”
Once Colombia’s independent electoral authorities review and announce the legally binding result, De La Espriella plans to be sworn into office for his four-year term as the country’s 48th president on Aug. 7.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement saying he had also congratulated De la Espriella during a conversation over the phone.
“The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties,” Rubio wrote to De La Espriella on X. “Colombia’s best days are ahead.”
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