United States President Donald Trump and his nominee for ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson both praised the Mexican government on Tuesday for ramping up the fight against the trafficking of illegal drugs to the U.S. and the northward flow of migrants.
Trump met with a number of his picks for ambassadorial posts around the world in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Ron Johnson, embajador de Estados Unidos en nuestro país, dijo sentirse alentado por las conversaciones con la presidenta @Claudiashein y le agradeció el apoyo en la frontera.
Donald Trump destacó que México ha intensificado mucho las medidas.
COOPERACIÓN SI, SUBORDINACIÓN NO. pic.twitter.com/6FSwlxR7Aj
— El Nopal Times (@ElNopalTimes) March 26, 2025
Johnson — an army veteran and former CIA official who served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump’s first term as president — thanked the U.S. president “for the nomination to represent you and the United States to the United Mexican States.”
“And I’m really encouraged by some of the conversations you’ve had with President [Claudia] Sheinbaum recently, and … the increase in support that we’ve seen from her government along our border,” he added.
“They have stepped it up a lot, Mexico and Canada, so see how it works, right?” Trump responded.
The U.S. president spoke to Sheinbaum earlier this month and subsequently suspended 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico that meet the requirements of the USMCA free trade pact.
Trump said he took the decision “as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum.”
“Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl,” he wrote on social media on March 6.
Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and most imports on Canada on March 4 due to what the White House said was the two countries’ failure to adequately stem the flow of “lethal drugs” such as fentanyl into the U.S.
In her March 6 call with Trump, Sheinbaum said she highlighted that fentanyl seizures at the border — which can be as used as a proxy to estimate whether the amount of the opioid entering the United States is going up or down — declined 41.5% in February compared to January.
Sheinbaum said that Trump wasn’t aware of that statistic, and attributed it to the increase in fentanyl seizures in Mexico. The number of migrants detected by United States authorities illegally crossing the Mexico-U.S. border has also fallen significantly since the new U.S. government took office on Jan. 20.
The Mexican government is currently waiting to see whether the United States will impose additional tariffs on Mexican goods next week. The Trump administration is planning to impose at least some reciprocal tariffs on imports from United States’ trading partners on April 2.
As for Johnson, he is waiting for ratification from the U.S. Senate in order to travel to Mexico to commence his new ambassadorial post.
At a Senate hearing earlier this month, Johnson said that the U.S. military could unilaterally take action against drug cartels on Mexican soil if the lives of U.S. citizens were at risk.
Sheinbaum promptly rebuffed the declaration.
Sheinbaum: US sees that Mexico’s security strategy is working
On Wednesday morning, a reporter asked Sheinbaum about the remarks Johnson made on Tuesday in the presence of President Trump.
In response, she outlined the four pillars of her government’s security strategy, namely addressing the root causes of crime; strengthening the National Guard; improving intelligence and investigation practices; and enhancing the federal government’s coordination with other authorities.
“This strategy is what has allowed us to achieve the results we presented yesterday,” she said, referring to a reduction in the homicide rate since she took office, the seizure of more than 134 tonnes of drugs in the past six months and the arrest of almost 16,000 people for high-impact crimes such as murder.
García Harfuch presents 4 pillars of national security strategy
Sheinbaum highlighted that preliminary data shows that Mexico has recorded 19 fewer homicides per day this month compared to September 2024, the final month of the six-year presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
“Nineteen fewer homicides per day,” she reiterated.
“Of course, the United States sees this. What else are we doing in this strategy? Avoiding that fentanyl crosses [into the United States] … for humanitarian reasons and due to the collaboration and coordination we have with the United States,” Sheinbaum said.
“… I assume this is what the ambassador sees,” she said.
Mexico News Daily
