After U.S. President-elect Donald Trump declared he would designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations on his first day in office, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters Mexico would never accept any interventionist actions.
“We will collaborate with and coordinate with the United States,” Sheinbaum said in response, “but we will never subordinate ourselves.”
During a Sunday speech to conservative supporters, Trump — who takes office on Jan. 20, 2025 — said he would address illegal drugs on his first day in office, according to the newspaper El País.
“All foreign gang members will be expelled and I will immediately designate the [drug] cartels as foreign terrorist organizations,” Trump said, adding that every cartel “operating on American soil will be dismantled, deported and destroyed.”
Trump also mentioned his November phone call with Sheinbaum, after he had threatened to levy 25% tariffs on Mexico unless more is done to solve the problems of immigration and drug trafficking.
Calling Sheinbaum “a lovely woman,” Trump told the AmericaFest crowd that he was very tough on Mexico, saying he insisted the Mexican president must do more to address the drug trade.
Trump floated the idea of a terrorist designation during his first term in office back in 2019, but set plans aside at the request of Sheinbaum’s predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who sought to cooperate in the fight against drug gangs, instead of considering intervention.
For several years, hard-liners in the United States have demanded that organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel be labeled as terrorist groups. These supporters would also back targeted attacks on cartel operations in Mexico in violation of international law, El País reported.
Officially designating cartels as terrorist organizations would legally permit the United States to send its military into Mexico to fight the crime gangs, the newspaper El Universal reported. Some U.S. officials believe such a measure would damage relations with Mexico and hinder the Mexican government’s fight against drug trafficking.
After saying she would defend Mexico’s sovereignty against any interventionist actions, Sheinbaum restated her government’s position on the drug war.
“The drugs are consumed [in the United States], the guns [the cartels use] come from there, and lives are lost down here,” she said. “But … we don’t accept interference in our country.”
Sheinbaum added that her administration is working to re-establish peace in Mexico by addressing the root causes of violence so that the country’s youth do not become involved in crime.
With reports from Por Esto, Reuters, El Universal, El País and Reforma
Most of the drugs may be consumed in the US and many of the guns come from there, but most of the torture, killing, extortion, kidnapping, illegal mining, logging, and fuel siphoning takes place in Mexico. That is also where fentanyl is laced into to other drugs and large portions of the country are actually controlled by the cartels due to death threats and corruption.
Is this comment from experience. Where in Mexico? Mexico is a large country with many states.
She seems to imply “ Don’t mess with our Drug Cartels “ then who will finance our political campaigns ??
You can’t go on a Sunday drive in mexico. You never know what will happen
Said by someone who has probably never been there.
Is this comment from experience. Where in Mexico? Mexico is a large country with many states.
Do you really need to ask where in Mexico? Are you not reading the general news?
What a crazy statement that is. As a single woman who spent months in Mexico drove almost daily and never had a problem. Maybe FrankAnthony should move to a different location or leave Mexico.
This bunch here can’t really stand Mexico calling out the orange face monkey on his perpetual pissy fits, CAN YOU?
Yes Mexico has a big problem with cartels. But let’s be clear, almost all the cartels customers are in the US and nearly every gun is coming from here as well.
Let’s clean up our house first and stop “illegal immigration” of guns before we start sending black op’s into Mexico.
well said
Yes!!!
why not both?
Hey, Mercurochrome Man, how about designating the US citizens that sell guns to Mexico as terrorists??
They should
I live in Queretaro just 1/4 mile from where 10 people were murdered a few weeks ago. The hugs aren’t working. Cartels must be stopped.
Pres. Sheinbaum lacks the spine to stand up to Pres. Trump. She will give a few defiant speeches, let him do all the dangerous work to clean up the mess, then she’ll take all the credit at the end when crime has been lowered. She’s a politician. He is a leader.
Trump is no leader, he’s a rapist criminal who belongs in prison. Plus he’s full of sh*t!
👍
Totally agree!
Well put.
This sounds like it’s coming from the mouth of Trump…he’s taught you well. Keep believing what Trump tells you…what you just stated is exactly how Trump thnks…he’ll take the credit…
Only the blind will follow the lead of the blind orange faced buffoon.
Even if drugs are taken out of the equation, the Cartels won’t disappear. These are not good but misguided people; They are not going to go get a job at Walmart! Cartels will replace that income with increases in extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, and theft. Could make things MORE dangerous for those of us that live here!
They call them cartels in Mexico and gangs in the USA…same thing
Let’s be honest – the narcotic crisis in the USA was started by the for profit medical establishment who pushed opiads on Americans under the lie they were none addictive, not unlike the for profit tobacco industry.
Trump does not understand the USA dependancy on drugs. Not enough mental health programs in communities, horrible economics for lower income people, a safety net filled with holes and a hoarding of capital wealth. If drugs do not come over the USA borders, the USA drug war lords will just do the manufacturing along with the distribution inside the US borders.
“Pain management” is a universal problem in the US. The standard is to medicate, and as nearly everybody experiences pain, millions and millions turn to pills, potions and injections to ease their pain. Diet, excercise and lifestyle don’t get much of a role in the pain management plan. So big corporations like Purdue Pharma have been able to addict millions with their synthetic opioids, and many of them turn to black market meds, nutured in nearby Mexico.
Do you really need to ask where in Mexico? Are you not reading the general news?
Majority of the comments on this site are all from liberals probably from Canada who have no business even big concerning themselves with America. They don’t open their eyes and look at the facts and cartels are charging thousands and thousands of dollars to heard people through Mexico across the river into the United States about 12 million last year now why couldn’t Mexico stop those people at the border.
They could have stopped him at the northern border from entering Mexico did they have passports to enter Mexico I think everyone from a normal country has to have a passport to enter Mexico.
enter Mexico no they just let them in and then they could have stopped him at the southern border if they wanted to like they did when Trump was in office 4 years ago.
Trump doesn’t want to invade Mexico he only wants to offer his
help the Mexicans army and Navy fight the cartel and put them down but Mexican politicians depend too much on cartel money to stay in office so they can’t agree to this at least not publicly but none of us know what’s going on behind the scenes there may be great cooperation between the new Mexican president and the new American president we just need to wait and see what happens.
It would be nice if you could get your geography in order, otherwise alot of what you say is correct.
Sovereignty????? Since it is so easy to blame US FOR 30 million Drug addicts and easy access to assault weapons; Mexico could at least allow US to assist Mexico in controlling Drug manufacture/distribution without FEAR of loss of Sovereignty. Loss of Sovereignty is an EXCUSE.