Bogotá, Colombia - Colombia's top military officer said his country will fight the resurgent cocaine trade with or without help from the US, after President Donald Trump's administration removed it from a list of allies in the fight against drug trafficking.

Amid record cocaine production, Trump this week declared that Colombia's leftist government was no longer helping in the drug war and had failed to curb the flow of cocaine to the US.

It marked a new low in normally warm relations between the two countries.

In an interview with AFP hours after Trump's announcement, the commander of Colombia's defense forces, Francisco Cubides, said Tuesday that the two countries would continue to work together despite the political crisis.

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"The only one who wins if we don't work together is crime," he said while insisting the fight against cartels would continue "with or without the support of the United States."

Over recent decades, Washington has sent billions of dollars in aid southward to help tackle cartels, guerrillas, and paramilitaries who are involved in the ultra-lucrative drug trade.

However, personal and political animosity between Trump and leftist President Gustavo Petro has marked a turn away from a previously close security partnership

Petro has been one of the most outspoken global leaders when it comes to human rights, strongly criticizing the Trump administration's assault on immigrants and its support for Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

The Trump administration say the Colombian cocaine trade has flourished under Petro, who has sought to negotiate with armed groups and avoid violent confrontation.

While placing Colombia on the blacklist, Trump also signed a waiver that avoided mandatory cuts in military spending and other sanctions, in order to avoid alienating Bogotá's traditionally US-aligned armed forces.

Petro nonetheless hit back by announcing a moratorium on US arms purchases.

Still, Cubides played up the two countries' long security partnership.

"Colombia and the United States have had a close relationship in many areas, particularly in the military," he said. "We have clear support from them, but Colombia also contributes. Our work is complementary."