The Trump administration is keeping up the pressure on the Mexican government after assisting in the operation that killed a major drug cartel kingpin over the weekend.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the Trump administration is &#8220;pushing&#8221; Mexico to take stronger action to curb the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.
&#8220;We are coordinating and cooperating and pushing the Mexican government to do more to end the scourge of deadly drugs coming through our United States Southern border, which of course is now secure thanks to President Trump as well,&#8221; Leavitt said during a Fox News appearance.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a>: &#8220;We encourage all Americans in Mexico to of course adhere to the guidance provided by the <a href="https://twitter.com/StateDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StateDept</a>&#8230; and the Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American or they will pay severe consequences under this <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/gwbUaD5oi9">pic.twitter.com/gwbUaD5oi9</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2026293274827272418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Leavitt said the Sunday strike that took out longtime Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes during an operation in the southwestern town of Tapalpa, Jalisco, &#8220;would not have happened without the leadership of President Trump.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/friendly-fire?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_content=20260224_sotu_aa_desktop&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=banner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Watch the State of the Union with The Daily Wire! Live coverage from the nation&#8217;s capital begins at 7:45 ET.</a>
&#8220;He has made it a day one priority to target and go after these vicious drug cartels that have shipped deadly poison to our country for far too long,&#8221; Leavitt said, citing President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to designate some of Mexico&#8217;s most notorious cartels as terrorist organizations and the administration&#8217;s dozens of military strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
Following Sunday&#8217;s operation, cartel members set buses and cars ablaze and erected roadblocks in some of the most popular vacation spots frequented by American tourists.
The State Department <a href="https://x.com/TravelGov/status/2025636042007605353" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> American citizens to “shelter in place” if they are in the Mexican state of Jalisco — including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara — as well as in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, parts of Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.
American and Canadian airlines quickly canceled flights out of Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, leaving tourists stranded.
American tourist Jim Beck, who said he has been going to Puerto Vallarta “for almost twenty years,” <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@cnn/video/7609924460602313997?q=puerto%20vallarta&amp;t=1771858884471" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN that it’s the first time he’s been “actually terrified” while visiting the area.
“We saw people running down the streets, running from the flames and stuff and the fire. And we ran back to the hotel and then that’s when they got the shelter in order place and we’ve been here all day,” Beck said.
“It’s been pretty scary … all the locals being locked up and hidden with us too, there’s a few homeless people that were brought into this hotel … so that they had some place to go too. It’s been quite surreal knowing this warm, wonderful place that we come to visit a couple times a year is in lockdown and just terrifying for all the people,” he said.
Leavitt said the Trump administration is &#8220;unaware of any reports of any Americans being hurt, kidnapped, or killed,&#8221; adding, &#8220;The Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American or they will pay severe consequences under this president.&#8221;
The State Department has also set up &#8220;24/7 phone lines&#8221; to help Americans who are stranded in Mexico, Leavitt said.

TOPSHOT-MEXICO-CRIME-DRUG TRAFFICKING-OPERATION

Trump Sends Clear Message After Cartel Rampage Leaves Americans Stranded

Claudia Sheinbaum

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

Executive

Karoline Leavitt

Mexico

National Security

Politics

Chaos swept across parts of western Mexico on Sunday following the killing of one of the country’s most feared cartel leaders in a military operation that officials say was carried out with U.S. cooperation.
Mexican special forces killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the longtime head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), during an operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, according to the Mexican government. Oseguera was widely regarded as one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world.
According to the <a href="https://x.com/EmbamexEUA/status/2025664020431151423">Mexican Embassy in the United States</a>, the United States provided “complementary information” to Mexican authorities as part of bilateral coordination.
Following the operation, cartel members engaged in violent acts in parts of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guanajuato, setting buses on fire and erecting roadblocks in multiple cities, <a href="https://x.com/PabloLemusN/status/2025589614463823889">according to</a> Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro. In response, Lemus Navarro announced that schools throughout the state would be closed.
The U.S. State Department <a href="https://x.com/TravelGov/status/2025636042007605353">urged</a> American citizens to shelter in place if they are in Jalisco State — including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara &#8212; as well as Tamaulipas, parts of Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.
Additional footage appeared to show fires in the parking lot of a Costco in Puerto Vallarta, a coastal city popular with American tourists that draws millions of visitors each year.
Derek Maltz, former acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration until May, told The Daily Wire that Oseguera had long been the top cartel target for the United States.
“Obviously, El Mencho has been like public enemy number one for many years. He’s built up this global enterprise with the CJNG,” Maltz said. “We&#8217;ve been sharing intelligence against Mencho for a long time. And we share intelligence daily with our counterparts in the embassy in Mexico.”
Maltz added that the DEA, together with the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and others are working with their Mexican counterparts “every day to go after these cartel leaders.”
Oseguera was one of Mexico’s most wanted men. The Mexican government had offered a 30 million peso reward — roughly $1.7 million — for information leading to his arrest. The United States had posted a $15 million reward, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/22/americas/mexico-kill-drug-mencho-latam-intl">reported CNN</a>.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has previously <a href="https://www.dea.gov/cartels">described</a> the cartel as among the “most powerful and ruthless criminal organizations” operating inside Mexico, calling it a key supplier of illicit fentanyl and cocaine to the United States. The DEA added that the group’s facilitators and associates operate in nearly all 50 U.S. states.
In 2022, the United States Department of Justice charged Oseguera with leading efforts to manufacture and distribute fentanyl for importation into the United States. The CJNG was later designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau <a href="https://x.com/DeputySecState/status/2025648742049947797">celebrated</a> the news on X.
“I’ve just been informed that Mexican security forces have killed ‘El Mencho,’ one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins,” Landau wrote. “This is a great development for Mexico, the U.S., Latin America, and the world. The good guys are stronger than the bad guys.”
The Mexican government said various aircraft from the Air Force and the Special Immediate Reaction Force of the National Guard participated in the raid. During the operation, military personnel reportedly came under attack.
“In defense of their physical integrity, they repelled the aggression,” the embassy said. Four CJNG members were killed at the scene. Three others, severely wounded, died during an airlift to Mexico City, including Oseguera. Several additional suspects were arrested.
Authorities also seized armored vehicles and heavy weaponry, including rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles. Three Mexican security personnel were injured.
“From day one, President Trump and this administration has made it clear that if you’re selling drugs and moving poisonous substances into America, you’re going to be held accountable,” Maltz said. “He declared the cartels as terrorists; he’s declared fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. So he’s doing everything to put American citizens first.”
He added that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been highly cooperative with the Trump administration, sending 92 high-level Mexican cartel leaders and gang leaders to America to face justice.
“That has never happened in the history of our war against the cartels,” Maltz said.

Mexican cartel leader ‘El Mencho’ killed in military operation

Chaos Erupts In Mexico After Cartel Boss ‘El Mencho’ Killed By Special Forces

Crime

Drugs

Trump Administration

World

President Donald Trump said that he spoke to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum over the phone on Thursday about multiple issues and praised the leader, whom he has recently criticized.
Trump said the call with Sheinbaum &#8220;focused on the Border, stopping Drug Trafficking, and Trade&#8221; and went &#8220;extremely well for both Countries.&#8221; He added that he hopes to set up a meeting between the United States and Mexico soon.
&#8220;Mexico has a wonderful and highly intelligent Leader — They should be very happy about that!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115979311914390909">said</a>.
Sheinbaum <a href="https://x.com/Claudiashein/status/2016893373026607529">said</a> her call with Trump was &#8220;productive and cordial.&#8221;
&#8220;We continue to make progress on trade issues and the bilateral relationship,&#8221; she added.
Trump and Sheinbaum have butted heads throughout the past year over Trump&#8217;s tariffs and his suggestion that the United States could target drug traffickers in Mexico. Last May, Trump reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pressures-mexico-to-allow-u-s-military-to-lead-fight-against-drug-cartels?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Pressures+Mexico+To+Allow+U.S.+Military+To+Lead+Fight+Against+Drug+Cartels">pressured</a> Sheinbaum to allow U.S. troops to go into the country to fight the drug cartels, but Sheinbaum was not willing to give U.S. forces the green light. Trump then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-mexicos-president-afraid-to-let-american-troops-come-fight-cartels?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+Mexico%E2%80%99s+President+%E2%80%98Afraid%E2%80%99+To+Let+American+Troops+Come+Fight+Cartels">blasted</a> Sheinbaum, saying she was &#8220;afraid&#8221; and &#8220;can’t even think straight.&#8221;
The Mexican president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexican-president-says-u-s-military-will-not-fight-drug-cartels-on-its-soil?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Mexican+President+Says+U.S.+Military+Will+Not+Fight+Drug+Cartels+On+Its+Soil">doubled down</a> on her opposition to Trump sending U.S. troops to her country in August after The New York Times reported that Trump quietly signed an order to use military force against drug cartels in foreign countries.
&#8220;The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military,&#8221; Sheinbaum said, adding, &#8220;We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out. It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no.&#8221;
After the United States captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/09/americas/analysis-mexican-drug-cartels-trump-intl-latam">said</a> the cartels are &#8220;running Mexico,&#8221; adding that &#8220;we have to do something&#8221; about drugs &#8220;pouring through Mexico.&#8221; He again said Sheinbaum was &#8220;afraid&#8221; to deal with Mexican cartels.
As the United States conducts strikes on suspected drug runner boats in international waters in the Caribbean, Trump also suggested last week that he would authorize strikes on drug runners on highly-trafficked land passages, which could include Mexico.
&#8220;We’re going to hit the cartels,” he <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/24/us-news/trump-reveals-to-the-post-on-land-drug-strikes-could-hit-anywhere-including-mexico-central-and-south-america/">told</a> the New York Post. &#8220;We know their routes. We know everything about them. We know their homes. We know everything about them. We’re going to hit the cartels.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s tariffs have also represented a conflict between him and the Mexican leader. After Trump hit Mexico, Canada, and China with tariffs over what he called their failure to address fentanyl trafficking, Sheinbaum said Mexico would retaliate, but the country paused its retaliatory tariffs on the United States as it sought to negotiate a trade deal, and many products from Mexico are protected under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA).
On Wednesday, Mexico&#8217;s economy chief Marcelo Ebrard met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, D.C., to discuss potential changes to the USMCA, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/mexicos-sheinbaum-says-she-had-productive-call-with-trump-trade-2026-01-29/">reported</a>. The USMCA went into effect in 2020 and is up for a joint review in July, when the United States, Mexico, and Canada must come to an agreement for the pact to be extended.

Trump/Sheinbaum

Trump Praises Mexico’s President After Phone Call Addressing Border, Drug Trafficking, And Trade

drug trafficking

trade

U.S.

Jan 2 (Reuters) &#8211; A powerful earthquake shook southern Mexico on Friday, sending millions scrambling after the New Year holiday and briefly interrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily press conference.
The 6.5-magnitude quake struck near the Pacific coast in Guerrero state at a depth of 35 km (22 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. Guerrero is just south of Mexico City.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or serious damage in Guerrero, Sheinbaum and the state&#8217;s governor both said.
Sheinbaum was speaking in Mexico City when earthquake alarms sounded. She noted the ground was shaking beneath her before calmly evacuating alongside journalists. Sheinbaum resumed the press conference shortly afterward.<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/Zh00CeSqDcV18TjliLlptizOnhXEHqkw6?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=7f8a9ad7-9bfd-4a80-bc5a-f8ad98e0a1bf&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-01-02%3A%20Southern%20Mexico%20Earthquake&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
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Credit: Reuters
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She said no damage had been reported in Mexico City, where residents fled their homes and sounds of nervous dogs barking filled the streets.
Guerrero is home to Acapulco and other resort areas, which are a major draw for holiday tourists. Acapulco is still recovering from a Category 5 hurricane that devastated the area in 2023.
(Reporting by Mexico City newsroom, Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Editing by Emily Green and Howard Goller)

Reuters

Strong Earthquake Jolts Southern Mexico, Sends People Scrambling During President’s Press Conference

earthquake

The Trump administration has stripped at least 50 Mexican politicians of their visas, saying the officials have ties to drug cartels.
While previous administrations have taken similar actions, the Trump administration is revoking visas at an unprecedented scale, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-revokes-visas-over-50-mexican-politicians-new-drug-war-front-2025-10-14/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
President Donald Trump’s previous acting Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Derek Maltz told The Daily Wire that there’s “a long history of the cartels relying on corrupt officials and politicians in Mexico to advance their criminal goals.”
“Travel to America, the greatest country in the world, is a privilege, not a right. Travel visas for individuals are not automatic and I&#8217;m glad to see that the State Department is scrutinizing them at a new level,” he said.
“Nobody should be surprised that this administration is looking outside the box and will use all capabilities to make it difficult for the cartels to continue to kill Americans at record levels,” he added.
A senior State Department official told The Daily Wire that the Trump administration has had “a good working relationship” with the Mexican government led by President Claudia Sheinbaum and looks “forward to continuing to advance our bilateral relationship in the interest of the America first foreign policy agenda.”
Visas can be revoked for many reasons, including violations of American law, overstaying permissions, corruption, drug trafficking, acting as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party, espionage, aiding illegal immigration, the official said. However, the official didn’t confirm the visa revocations.
The Trump administration has prioritized efforts to counter drug cartels and has taken out 27 alleged “narcoterrorists” in kinetic strikes on multiple vessels traversing international waters that were believed to be transporting deadly drugs.
The War Department carried out such a strike off the coast of Venezuela Tuesday morning, taking out six alleged drug traffickers.
“Unprecedented death and destruction to American communities and families requires unprecedented action by the United States government,” said Maltz.
The cartels’ control over Mexican administrations has increased in recent years as presidents shy away from fighting the narcotraffickers, according to a 2024 <a href="https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-01-RR-SST-Abrazos-no-Balazos-The-Mexican-State-Cartel-Nexus-update-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. An estimated 35% to 40% of Mexico is controlled by the drug cartels.

MixCollage-05-May-2025-07-30-AM-9035

Trump Admin Pulls Visas From 50 Mexican Officials Over Cartel Ties

Cartels

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded on Friday after a report from The New York Times stated that President Donald Trump had quietly signed an order to use military force against drug cartels in foreign countries.
Sheinbaum, who previously rejected an offer from Trump for the U.S. military to help fight the drug cartels, said on Friday, “The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military.&#8221; The Mexican president added that U.S. officials had given her a heads-up that Trump&#8217;s directive &#8220;was coming,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/world/americas/mexico-trump-military-cartels.html">The New York Times</a>.
&#8220;We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out,” she said. “It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no.”
Sheinbaum said that she was assured by the United States that Trump&#8217;s order would not include sending troops into Mexico. The directive reportedly singles out Latin American drug cartels that are designated as foreign terrorist organizations, but it was not immediately clear which specific cartels or transnational gangs the Trump administration would pursue under the new directive.
Mexico has been overrun by numerous violent drug cartels for decades, and most of the drug cartels listed by the United States as terrorist organizations primarily operate in Mexico. Two transnational criminal gangs, Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), which have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations, have cells in Central America, according to the State Department. The Trump administration also recently designated the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist organization.
After pressure from Trump earlier this year, Sheibaum reportedly deployed hundreds of troops to fight the Sinaloa Cartel — one of Mexico&#8217;s most powerful — with the group suffering significant losses. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson <a href="https://x.com/USAmbMex/status/1951085207123272145">said</a> last month that U.S. fentanyl seizures were down and Mexico fentanyl seizures were on the rise &#8220;thanks to increased collaboration&#8221; between the two countries.
&#8220;Under [President Trump&#8217;s] and President [Sheinbaum&#8217;s] leadership, cartels are going bankrupt and our countries are safer because of it,&#8221; Johnson added.
Trump has used tariffs as a negotiating tool to pressure Mexico into helping the United States secure the border and crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The president has also deployed U.S. troops and drones to patrol the southern border. Trump&#8217;s actions have led to the <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/most-secure-border-history-cbp-reports-major-enforcement-wins-june#:~:text=Border%20Enforcement%20at%20Historic%20Levels,27%2C766%20released%20in%20June%202024">lowest level</a> of illegal border crossings ever recorded by Customs and Border Protection.

Mexican President Says U.S. Military Will Not Fight Drug Cartels On Its Soil

Military

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is so afraid of drug cartels that &#8220;she can&#8217;t even think straight,&#8221; and that&#8217;s why she rejected his proposal to send American troops into Mexico to fight them.
Trump made the comments after he was asked whether news that he had made the offer was true. On Saturday, Sheinbaum said that she had turned down Trump&#8217;s offer because it would impugn Mexican sovereignty.
&#8220;It&#8217;s true,&#8221; Trump told reporters. &#8220;[The cartels] are horrible people that have been killing people left and right. They&#8217;ve made a fortune on selling drugs and destroying our people. We lost 300,000 people last year to fentanyl and drugs. They are bad news.&#8221;
&#8220;If Mexico wanted help with the cartels we would be honored to go in and do it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I told her that, &#8216;I&#8217;d be honored to go in and do it.&#8217; The cartels are trying to destroy our country. They are evil! And you know, we had 300,000 people die last year from fentanyl and all that. We had millions of people brought into this country that shouldn&#8217;t be here. The cartels brought them in.&#8221;
He said that he thought Sheinbaum was nice but that she refused American help because she was scared of the cartels.
&#8220;So if she said that I offered to do that, she&#8217;s 100 percent right,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;She&#8217;s so afraid of the cartels she can&#8217;t walk so you know, that&#8217;s the reason. And I think she&#8217;s a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman. But she is so afraid of the cartels that she can&#8217;t even think straight.&#8221;
On Friday, it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pressures-mexico-to-allow-u-s-military-to-lead-fight-against-drug-cartels?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Pressures+Mexico+To+Allow+U.S.+Military+To+Lead+Fight+Against+Drug+Cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Sheinbaum and Trump got into a heated phone call last month after he pushed for the U.S. military to lead in the fight against cartels.
&#8220;He said, &#8216;How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States military come in and help you.&#8217; And you know what I said to him? &#8216;No, President Trump,'&#8221; Sheinbaum <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-sheinbaum-mexico-drug-cartels-c2113e74cfc122f8f5a9e162644a470f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Saturday, confirming the conversation.
&#8220;Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended,&#8221; she added. &#8220;We can work together, but you in your territory and us in ours.&#8221;
Trump has designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-it-is-time-for-america-to-wage-war-on-the-cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> in a speech before Congress to &#8220;wage war&#8221; on them.
White House National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt said Saturday that while the United States-Mexico border had largely been secured, Mexico still needed to do more to crack down on drug cartels.
&#8220;Dangerous Foreign Terrorist Organizations, however, continue to threaten our shared security and the drugs and crime they spread threaten American communities across the country,&#8221; Hewitt said. &#8220;The President has been crystal clear that Mexico must do more to combat these gangs and cartels and the United States stands ready to assist and expand the already close cooperation between our two countries.&#8221;

Trump Says Mexico’s President ‘Afraid’ To Let American Troops Come Fight Cartels

Fentanyl

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 <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/trump-mexicos-sheinbaum-spar-over-drug-cartels-f3aae16c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Friday.
The Journal, citing &#8220;people familiar with the discussions,&#8221; 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, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-it-is-time-for-america-to-wage-war-on-the-cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowing</a> to &#8220;wage war on the cartels&#8221; and designating them as foreign terrorist organizations. Shortly after his April 16 phone call with Sheinbaum, Trump told Fox News&#8217; 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 <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/NDTA_2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drug Enforcement Administration</a>, &#8220;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.&#8221;
After Trump designated numerous cartels as terrorist organizations, Sheinbaum pushed for a constitutional reform to further protect Mexico&#8217;s sovereignty, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-was-not-consulted-us-designation-cartels-terrorist-organizations-2025-02-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;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&#8230; (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air,&#8221; the Mexican president said.
The Trump administration has reportedly considered using drone strikes against cartels in Mexico, and Trump&#8217;s border czar Tom Homan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-homan-tells-daily-wire-trump-will-use-full-might-of-government-to-crush-cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Daily Wire in March that Trump would &#8220;use the full might of the federal government to take them out.&#8221;
“We’re not just going to attack them on the southern border, we’re going to attack them across the globe,&#8221; 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.

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

On Tuesday, as the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on Mexican, Canadian, and Chinese imports took effect, leftist Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trade-war-mexico-trump-9cefdded035a0b35e700a7ba0bfc34b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Mexico would retaliate with tariffs on U.S. exports, following the lead of Canada and China.
Sheinbaum said she would delineate which products Mexico would target, adding that the U.S. had no reason for imposing tariffs on its largest trading partners.
“There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nations,” she said. “It’s inconceivable that they don’t think about the damage this is going to cause to United States citizens and businesses with the increase in prices for things produced in our country. Also the damage it will cause by stopping job creation in both countries. No one wins with this decision.”
Trump’s tariffs impose a 25% tax on Mexican and Canadian imports.
On Monday, the White House issued a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-proceeds-with-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-and-mexico/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact sheet</a> regarding the tariffs in which it stated that the Mexican government had cooperated with the vicious drug cartels of Mexico. The fact sheet declared:
<blockquote>
Mexican drug trafficking organizations, the world’s leading fentanyl traffickers, operate unhindered due to an intolerable relationship with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims. 
Cartel violence, including armed drones and roadside IEDs, are coming in closer and closer proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border as cartels are more actively targeting one another as well as Mexican military and law enforcement personnel.
This alliance with the Mexican government endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels.
</blockquote>
The fact sheet also noted, “There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada. &#8230; Both nations’ failure to arrest traffickers, seize drugs, or coordinate with U.S. law enforcement constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to America’s security—demanding IEEPA action to force accountability and protect American lives.”
Sheinbaum called the fact sheet “offensive, defamatory and without support,” adding, “We collaborate to avoid illegal drug trafficking to the United States, but as we have said on multiple occasions, that country’s government must take responsibility too for the crisis of opioid consumption that has caused so many deaths in the United States.”

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Briefing Conference

Leftist Mexican President Says She’ll Retaliate Against U.S. Tariffs, Following Canada And China

Canada

China

Economy

Tariffs

AUSTIN, Texas – The chosen political slogan of Mexico’s last and current president, “Abrazos, no balazos” (“<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-f4c29ad0e3014ca3a4cffccfe4cac1d4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hugs, not Bullets”),</a> is often embraced to describe official government policy toward the country’s ultra-violent drug-trafficking cartels. The beauty of this slogan is that it requires no explanation.
The reverse, however, “Bullets, not Hugs,” is probably up next whether Mexico likes it or not. President Donald Trump has just forced Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to capitulate to a threat of ruinous 25% trade tariffs on Mexican exports unless she uses military force to suppress the flow of fentanyl (and illegal immigrant smuggling) over the U.S. southern border. She’s deploying 10,000 troops to cartel country, right smack in the drug-trafficking lanes of Mexico’s far northern precincts along the U.S. border.
This deployment of Mexican troops, however, is quite different from previous ones, in which the main mission was to slow illegal immigration only, including during Trump’s first term and throughout the Biden term. For this one, the Trump mission demand is, as State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-rubios-call-with-mexican-foreign-secretary-de-la-fuente/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put it recently</a>, that Mexico needs to “&#8230;dismantle transnational criminal organizations, halt illegal migration, and stem the flow of fentanyl and precursor chemicals from China.”
That American priority has just put Mexican forces in the crosshairs of the most sensitive cartel hotspot: the blood-soaked zone between heavily armed cartel forces and their money just across the U.S. border.
<div id="attachment_873419" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-873419" class="size-large wp-image-873419" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146140-1-864x576.jpg" alt="CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 06: Mexican National Guard patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border on February 06, 2025 near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Advance units of troops deployed to the border under orders of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican goods. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146140-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146140-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146140-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146140-1.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />John Moore/Getty Images</div>
As if this was not provocative enough on its own, a senior Trump official with direct knowledge told me bilateral plans call for at least some of the more trusted of Mexico’s forces to physically attack cartel-run narcotics depots that would include pre-smuggling fentanyl hubs inside Mexico.
Certain U.S. intelligence groups are working with the Mexican government “to give them an exact laydown. They say they’re going to target the narcotics. We’re literally still at the table.”
All of this should prove triggering, literally, to any of Mexico’s nine main cartels once the whole enterprise ramps up in earnest.
I have a good feel for what this set of circumstances portends. As a reporter for Hearst News in San Antonio, Texas, from 2006-2009, <a href="https://www.toddbensman.com/category/archives/other-border-security-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I regularly covered the exceptionally bloody civil drug war</a> against the cartels that Felipe de Jesus Calderón Hinojosa (2006-2012) declared and which, after hundreds of thousands of Mexican casualties, spawned the popularly preferred “Hugs, not Bullets” policies of his successors. <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-long-war-drugs-crime-and-cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The U.S. partnered with Mexico throughout the war</a>, providing targeting intelligence and billions of dollars to modernize its security forces. All of that was for a quest to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
But after six years of ferocious combat and widespread torture and assassination, Mexico retreated in almost total defeat. The drug flow may have dipped from time to time but it never stopped.
In the years since, I’ve often pondered whether Calderón and his successors should have trebled down when defeat seemed inevitable, as did former President George W. Bush during the Iraq war. When the chips were down amid calls for a humiliating U.S. withdrawal during the Iraq war, Bush famously turned the tables by deploying 30,000 more troops. With Mexico, however, disrupting fentanyl production and trafficking with the military will not be easy, and may very well spark another government-cartel war similar to 2006-2012.
<div id="attachment_873423" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-873423" class="size-large wp-image-873423" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146249-864x576.jpg" alt="CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 06: Mexican troops patrol the U.S.-Mexico border on February 06, 2025 near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Advance units of soldiers deployed to the border under orders of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican goods. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146249-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146249-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146249-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198146249.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />John Moore/Getty Images</div>
The stars and planets all seem to be aligning for more violence, including from an unexpected quarter: President Sheinbaum herself may be aching for this fight.
Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez, a Mexico-born and educated national security research professor for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California said Sheinbaum has installed anti-cartel Morena Party hardliners over much of Mexico&#8217;s state security apparatuses. This wing of her party, Nieto-Gomez explained, has been spoiling to shed the &#8220;Hugs, not bullets&#8221; policy for a good hard fight with the cartels.
Trump is now providing a &#8220;top-cover&#8221; excuse for them to finally exert the military pressure they&#8217;ve been wanting.
&#8220;Trump&#8217;s actions have temporarily tilted the playing field in favor of Morena,&#8221; Nieto-Gomez said. &#8220;With the right philosophy and the right level of American support, we may see a different type of violence in Mexico.&#8221;
Perhaps a worthy achievable goal for Mexican military fireworks is that it forces a sort of devil’s truce where the cartels, whose leaders are the most consummate and pragmatic of capitalists, ultimately agree to voluntarily quit fentanyl altogether as a good business decision — if the other drugs are allowed to roll in as usual. After all, when the operatives are shooting and dying, they’re spending rather than earning.
What seems certain, however, is that Trump’s inevitable following through on his campaign promises to suppress fentanyl ups the chances of a conflict between the Mexican military and the cartels. No doubt the cartels are now feeling uncharacteristically pinched these days on many other fronts thanks to Trump’s return. 
<div id="attachment_873425" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-873425" class="size-large wp-image-873425" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145991-864x576.jpg" alt="CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 06: Mexican National Guard patrol the U.S.-Mexico border on February 06, 2025 near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Advance units of troops deployed to the border under orders of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican goods. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145991-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145991-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145991-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145991.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />John Moore/Getty Images</div>
Trump has asked his Secretary of State to designate them as foreign terrorist organizations, which would open authorities for America and its allies to seize assets and prosecute banks and people who work with the cartels on serious “material support” crimes. To isolate and weaken them where it counts, in the pocketbook, and disrupt their global operations.
And, of course, Trump has all but killed the biggest cash cow those cartels have seen in years by shuttering the southern border almost hermetically in a matter of days. Their smugglers are moving probably fewer than 500 illegal immigrants a day now, most of them caught and deported right away, compared to 14,000 a day last December. Those numbers are a catastrophe and should drive the cartels to invest everything they have in drug trafficking again.
Because they are now free from babysitting and processing illegal migrants all day long, Border Patrol is back on the drug traffickers full force and they have help, the U.S. military is down there glassing the landscape and using surveillance assets to spot the traffickers.
Some of the cartels were already so frustrated their leaders approved the use of drones to attack U.S. agents standing in the way of drug loads. Cases of firearms attacks on Border Patrol are rising.
Now Mexico’s going to put 10,000 troops in between them and their money?
If she is not already, Sheinbaum should be preparing for the worst right about now. President Trump absolutely expects some kind of real action — with demonstrable results — or else he’ll push that tariff button. She’s under pressure right now to produce something, anything, whether for show or not. And the cartels are ever ready to go to war.
Thanks to former President Joe Biden’s mass migration program, it could very well happen, because now the impulsive, brazen, money-hungry cartels are are extremely <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11563659/Mexicos-cartels-getting-rich-powerful-Bidens-mass-migration-crisis-TODD-BENSMAN.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">well-armed from the billions they all earned</a> over the past four years.
<div id="attachment_873427" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-873427" class="size-full wp-image-873427" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145781.jpg" alt="CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 06: Mexican National Guard troops patrol the bank of the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border on February 06, 2025 near Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Advance units of troops deployed to the border under orders of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Mexican goods. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145781.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145781-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198145781-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />John Moore/Getty Images</div>
Sheinbaum undoubtedly discerns the dangers here and will have to tread carefully between appeasing Trump and sparking another all-out civil war, which many in the United States believe is long overdue. And maybe it is. She and all the cartel leaders would probably feel lucky to cap things down to merely a “splendid little war” like the 1898 Spanish-American war.
But President Trump knows the art of the deal often pivots on what’s good business for everyone involved.
Mexico’s 2006-2012 war shows the cartels will more than likely survive whatever fireworks are coming, if any. Trump may make them realize sooner rather than later that they just have to give up the fentanyl.
* * *
Todd Bensman is a Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a two-time <a href="https://www.toddbensman.com/awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Press Club award winner.</a> He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a 23-year veteran newspaper reporter. He is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Covert-Border-War-Infiltration/dp/1642937258/ref=sr_1_2?crid=BP7S7BH2VBFB&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.O6ZnUZYfSlVsoiHcdjPhFHfMHLUTDwW2ZnKSAJboBbE5kdYf_h7sD08-h6YkTqOaoX3BwNswbUMPbnTbwQYA0OPgQiI3nLoLjosQWsEhFf5KFAPB4F0DTwUsSoJFgmaEF7V1rMQnOPvLvOLapFQ1ESD-D7UVwCNHsSGEs2XzEa9rmO1CLoVV277SrmlPOkJf.15UkCaAoqCyd7hpP16dl7D3_ZWawrd1RcN3D_ZSFo4w&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=todd+bensman&amp;qid=1730314546&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=todd+bensman%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Covert Border War</a>,” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Overrun-Unleashed-Greatest-Border-History-ebook/dp/B0BS1R9LCP?ref_=ast_author_dp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History</a>.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Mexican Military Deploys On US-Mexico Border Following Trump Tariff Threats

Will Mexico Face A Hot Shooting War With The Cartels?

Border Crisis

President Trump

Southern Border

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/canada" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mexico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mexico</a> announced tariffs against the United States on Saturday in retaliation for a slate of new import duties President Donald Trump ordered against the U.S. neighbors and China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada is working with Mexico to push back against Trump’s tariffs. Trump ordered increased tariffs on goods from Canada, China, and Mexico over lack of sufficient action against human and drug trafficking that has poured into the U.S.
“I think Canadians understand that we need to respond to this,” said Trudeau, who is expected to leave office in a matter of weeks after stepping down as his party’s leader. “We’re certainly not looking to escalate, but we will stand up for Canada.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
LIVE: Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs | EN DIRECT : Réplique aux tarifs douaniers américains <a href="https://t.co/JQ7HfwwCCW">https://t.co/JQ7HfwwCCW</a>
&mdash; Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1885879140446011591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump issued his own <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113934450227067577">statement</a> on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday condemning his critics and supporters of “the decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS that are allowed to so freely flow into AMERICA. THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!”
Trump ordered 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a lesser 10% tariff hike on Canadian energy imports. Trump also ordered a 10% additional tariff on Chinese goods. In return, Canada and Mexico announced their own 25% tariffs on a slate of U.S. goods.
Canada and Mexico are at a stark disadvantage in the brewing trade war with the United States, with their combined gross domestic product equaling about a seventh of the United States’. The United States also receives a significant majority of the exports from both countries, roughly three-quarters, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/canada-mexico-want-america-to-feel-the-pain-of-tariffs-too-f8119ccd?mod=hp_lead_pos1">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued her own statement on social media <a href="https://x.com/Claudiashein/status/1885857655094415528">denouncing</a> the tariffs and claiming that Trump falsely accused the Mexican government of having ties to criminal cartels.
Chinese precursor chemicals have flowed into Mexico where drug cartels manufacture addictive and deadly drugs such as fentanyl that is trafficked into the United States, the White House said.
“In addition, the Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims,” a White House fact sheet on Trump’s tariff order <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/">says</a>.
Mexican drug cartels have a growing presence in Canada that is contributing to the flood of human trafficking and drugs that is surging into the United States as well, according to the White House.

Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau

Canada, Mexico Slap Tariffs On U.S. After Trump Uses Trade To Force Border Security

Global Politics

Justin Trudeau

United States

Far-left Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum refused to acknowledge President Donald Trump&#8217;s new executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the &#8220;Gulf of America,&#8221; claiming that the world would not acknowledge it.
“So what corresponds to the continental shelf of the United States, which they call the ‘Gulf of America,’ for us is still the Gulf of Mexico,” she said. “And for the whole world, it will continue to be the Gulf of Mexico.”
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejects President Donald Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” <a href="https://t.co/R4QzhBFL8j">pic.twitter.com/R4QzhBFL8j</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1881745270800887894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
Trump announced during his inauguration speech on Monday that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed to the &#8220;Gulf of America,&#8221; then signed an executive order directing the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to make the change on federal maps.
The president first announced his intentions to rename the Gulf of Mexico earlier this month while discussing corruption in Mexico.
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“We have a massive deficit with Mexico and we help Mexico a lot,” Trump said. “They’re essentially run by the cartels. And we can’t let that happen. Mexico is really in trouble. A lot of trouble. A very dangerous place.”
Trump said at the time that in the near future, his administration would be “changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”
“The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name!” Trump said. “And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate.”
Trump said the U.S. has the right to do it because “we do most of the work there, and it is ours.”

President-Elect Sheinbam Receives Election Majority Certificate

Mexico’s President Refuses to Acknowledge ‘Gulf Of America’

Executive Orders

Gulf of Mexico

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