President Donald Trump sharply escalated his attacks on Colorado Governor Jared Polis, accusing him of weakness on crime and linking him to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, while again demanding the release of former county election clerk Tina Peters, who is serving a nine-year state prison sentence.
Speaking during an Oval Office event focused on border security and drug trafficking, Trump claimed that “the governor of Colorado is a weak and pathetic man who was run by Tren de Aragua,” alleging that Venezuelan criminals had “taken over sections of Colorado” while Polis failed to act.
Trump contrasted that claim with Polis’s handling of Peters’ case, saying the governor was willing to jail her “for nine years because she caught people cheating.”
🚨🇺🇸 Trump asegura que el tren de Aragua controla sectores de colorado y a su gobernador
🇺🇸 El presidente de EEUU, Donald Trump, afirmó desde la Casa Blanca que el gobernador de Colorado, Jared Polis, está “dirigido” por el Tren de Aragua, y aseguró que la banda criminal… pic.twitter.com/aP9SRqMQEF
— EVTV (@EVTVMiami) December 15, 2025
Peters, the former clerk of Mesa County, was convicted in 2024 on seven counts, including four felonies, after helping facilitate unauthorized access to county voting equipment following the 2020 election. Prosecutors said the breach was intended to support false claims of voter fraud promoted by allies of Trump, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Trump announced last week that he was pardoning Peters, though her convictions were under state law and not subject to a federal pardon.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Polis for not intervening to secure Peters’ release and has threatened to target Colorado politically if she remains incarcerated. In a separate social media post earlier this month, Trump called Polis a “lightweight Governor” and urged supporters to “FREE TINA!”
Polis has pushed back, rejecting Trump’s claims and declining to comment on specific legal matters. Responding to earlier criticism, he wrote on social media that “we would all benefit if the President spent less time posting attacks and instead worked on ending tariffs and making Christmas more affordable for American families.”
We would all benefit if the President spent less time posting attacks and instead worked on ending tariffs and making Christmas more affordable for American families. pic.twitter.com/wSZvPqz0yr
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) December 4, 2025
Trump’s latest remarks come against the backdrop of a long-running personal and political feud with Polis. Earlier this month, Polis mocked Trump after the president complained that his portrait in the Colorado State Capitol was “purposefully distorted,” unveiling an April Fool’s Day parody image styled after the animated series South Park. The episode underscored the increasingly public and personal nature of their dispute.
Originally published on Latin Times
