Abelardo de la Espriella (left), candidate elected president of Colombia in preliminary count, and Donald Trump, US President. Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP/Evelyn Hockstein/REUTERS United States President Donald Trump congratulated Abelardo de la Espriella, winner of the presidential election in Colombia according to the preliminary count, this Monday (22), and stated he would work with him to build a "powerful relationship" between the two countries. Espriella received public support from Trump during the race. The right-wing candidate defeated leftist Iván Cepeda at the polls in Sunday's election. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp "Congratulations to 'El Tigre' (THE TIGER!) Abelardo de la Espriella, the new President of Colombia! It was a great honor to support you, and I look forward to us working together to build a powerful relationship between Colombia and the United States of America, which will bring new levels of greatness to both of our countries!", said Trump in a post on his social network, Truth Social. After being named the new Colombian president, Espriella said he had been congratulated privately by the US president.
The right-wing candidate was publicly supported by Trump during the election and defeated candidate Iván Cepeda, an ally of President Gustavo Petro. This Sunday's result will still be ratified in the coming days in a final count, called a "scrutiny". See the reaction to Espriella's victory: Javier Milei The President of Argentina congratulated Espriella.
"Today, the majority of Colombians chose the path of economic freedom, prosperity, relentless security, and saying ENOUGH to transnational organized crime and drug trafficking," he stated. Javier Milei, President of Argentina, comments on the preliminary result of the elections in Colombia Reproduction/X Flávio Bolsonaro The PL pre-candidate for the Presidency of Brazil posted a video congratulating Espriella.
"Your victory is a victory of good over evil," he stated. Initial plugin text Keiko Fujimori Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori also took to social media to celebrate the result of the preliminary count.
"A few weeks ago, he [Espriella] offered me support at a decisive moment for Peru," she said. The country has been waiting since June 7 to know who the new president will be.
To date, 99.64% of the ballots have been counted. Fujimori leads with 50.113% of the votes against 49.887% for the leftist deputy. Initial plugin text Álvaro Uribe Vélez Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe stated that Espriella "will lead a government of democratic recovery". Álvaro Uribe Reproduction/X Daniel Noboa The President of Ecuador also congratulated Espriella and stated that the result shows the country has chosen "order over impunity".
Daniel Noboa Reproduction/X Maria Corina Machado The Nobel Peace Prize winner and opponent of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela also congratulated Espriella. "Today Colombia spoke with strength, hope, and determination," she said.
Initial plugin text Marco Rubio The United States Secretary of State also congratulated Espriella. "The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your administration," he stated.
Marco Rubio Reproduction/X The result According to data from the so-called "pre-count" released by the country's electoral authorities, De la Espriella surpassed Senator Iván Cepeda by less than 250,000 votes. The latest update shows 12,944,441 votes for Espriella, the right-wing candidate supported by United States President Donald Trump, and 12,697,154 for the leftist Cepeda, an ally of current Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The final count is expected to take place this Monday (22). On social media, President Gustavo Petro stated on Sunday night that no result should be considered official until the scrutiny is concluded. "No president can be proclaimed.
It is the scrutiny that determines who the president is. I obey the judges.
Tranquility to the citizens, please. Reality shows us a country split in half, and foreign interference takes away our freedom.
A national agreement is necessary if we want to maintain the homeland and peace in the years to come," wrote Petro. Right-wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella gestures among supporters during the 2nd round of the Colombian presidential elections in Barranquilla, Colombia, on June 21, 2026. REUTERS/Jair Coll The victory of right-winger De la Espriella represents a turning point in the country after the Petro government, the first leftist president in Colombia's history. Elections in Colombia: 2nd round with a dispute between Petro's candidate and the one supported by Trump The election became a "tug-of-war" between the country's current president, Gustavo Petro, and US President Donald Trump. Cepeda was the candidate supported by Petro, while the far-right Espriella had declared support from the US leader.
Read more below. The election result would cement the wave of right-wing governments in Latin America. This is because Espriella may join several Latin American countries that have elected right-wing governments in recent years, such as Chile, with Jorge Kast, and Bolivia, with Rodrigo Paz. The National Electoral Council (CNE) said that the voting took place peacefully and without major incidents, and with international observers, such as representatives from the OAS and the European Union. After controversy in the 1st round, Petro stated this Sunday after voting that he will respect the election results.
Even so, the current president made several requests for the population to mobilize to monitor the electoral records. Cepeda also said he would respect the verdict, but spoke of conducting a "very clear, rigorous, and thorough supervision" of the count. After the end of the voting, Espriella stated in a video on social media that he wants to be remembered as "the rebuilder of the homeland".
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