Trump Pressures Mexico To Allow U.S. Military To Lead Fight Against Drug Cartels

President Donald Trump is pressuring Mexico to allow the United States military to get further involved in the fight against drug cartels, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The Journal, citing “people familiar with the discussions,” reported that a 45-minute phone call between Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on April 16 got heated after Trump pushed for the U.S. military to lead in the fight against cartels. Sheinbaum reportedly was not willing to allow the United States to take direct military action against the cartels inside Mexico.

Trump has made fighting the cartels a top priority of his goal to secure the southern border and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States, vowing to “wage war on the cartels” and designating them as foreign terrorist organizations. Shortly after his April 16 phone call with Sheinbaum, Trump told Fox News’ Spanish-speaking network that “Mexico is very, very afraid of the cartels.”

“We want to help her. We want to help Mexico, because you can’t run a country like that. You just can’t,” he added.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, “The deadly reach of the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels into U.S. communities is extended by the wholesale-level traffickers and street dealers bringing the cartels’ drugs to market, sometimes creating their own deadly drug mixtures, and exploiting social media and messaging applications to advertise and sell to customers.”

After Trump designated numerous cartels as terrorist organizations, Sheinbaum pushed for a constitutional reform to further protect Mexico’s sovereignty, Reuters reported.

“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation… (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air,” the Mexican president said.

The Trump administration has reportedly considered using drone strikes against cartels in Mexico, and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told The Daily Wire in March that Trump would “use the full might of the federal government to take them out.”

“We’re not just going to attack them on the southern border, we’re going to attack them across the globe,” Homan added.

Trump is negotiating with Mexico on two fronts, seeking to increase military cooperation while also pushing for a trade deal with the country. The president slapped a 25% tariff on Mexico on February 1, pushing the country to do more to stop fentanyl trafficking and secure its border with the United States. After Mexico was hit with the tariff, Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 troops to the border.