U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he would be willing to launch military strikes against cartel targets in Mexico, just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the U.S. wouldn’t be undertaking any unilateral actions in Mexico.
“Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? It’s OK with me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“Whatever we have to do to stop drugs. … Look, I looked at Mexico City over the weekend; there’s some big problems over there,” the president said.
He was referring to the violence in Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo, at the conclusion of a large protest march against insecurity on Saturday.
Asked whether he would only launch strikes on targets in Mexico “with Mexico’s permission,” Trump responded:
“I wouldn’t answer that question. I’ve been speaking to Mexico; they know how I stand. We’re losing hundreds of thousands of people to drugs. So now we’ve stopped the waterways, but we know every route, we know the addresses of every drug lord. We know their address, we know their front door, we know everything about every one of them, they’re killing our people. That’s like a war. Would I do it? I’d be proud to. I’d probably go into Congress and say ‘hey,’ and you know what? The Democrats and the Republicans would both agree.”
The president went on to say that “much” of the narcotics that enter the U.S. “come through Mexico.”
“So let me just put it this way: I am not happy with Mexico,” said Trump, whose administration continues to collect fentanyl trafficking-related tariffs it imposed earlier this year on imports from Mexico that don’t comply with the USMCA free trade pact.
The U.S. president’s remarks came four days after Rubio said that the U.S. would not be sending military forces to Mexico or undertaking any unilateral actions in the fight against drug trafficking.
US Secretary of State Rubio rules out unilateral military action in Mexico
“The United States will give support to Mexico against drug cartels only if the Mexican government makes a request,” he said. “We can provide them all the help they want, but obviously if they don’t want us to intervene, we’re not going to take unilateral decisions and … send American forces into Mexico.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of the U.S. military taking action against Mexican cartels on Mexican soil, even though the U.S. government has designated six of them, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations.
She said in August that a U.S. bomb attack against Mexican cartels “won’t happen,” and reiterated that view on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, NBC News reported that the Trump administration had begun planning a “potential mission” on Mexican soil that would target Mexico’s notorious drug cartels, including with drone strikes.
Asked about that report on Nov. 4, Sheinbaum said that a U.S. operation against cartels inside Mexico “won’t happen.”
She noted that she has rejected offers from Trump to send U.S. troops into Mexico.
“I’ve always said, ‘Thank you, President Trump, but no. Mexico is a free, independent and sovereign country,'” she said.
“… So it’s been made clear that we don’t agree with any process of interference or interventionism. … We collaborate and we coordinate, but we’re a sovereign country,” Sheinbaum said.
‘There’s almost no drugs coming in through our waterways’
During his remarks in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump declared that “there’s almost no drugs” entering the United States via the country’s “waterways.”
“Isn’t it down like 85%?” he asked, to which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded, “It is, sir.”
“… We have almost no drugs coming into our country by the sea, … and you know why, I mean it’s pretty obvious,” Trump said, referring to the lethal strikes the U.S. military has recently carried out against alleged drug boats in international waters, including off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast.
“Would I do that on the land? … I would absolutely. Look, every boat we knock out we save 25,000 American lives,” he said, without providing any evidence for his claim.
“Not to mention the destruction of families. … So when we knock out a boat and save 25,000 lives, that’s great. Now, do I feel the same way about the [land] corridors that they use? We know every one of them. We have every one of those corridors under major surveillance,” said Trump, whose administration has flown drones over Mexico to spy on cartels.
“We have nobody coming in through our southern border, but we know exactly how they get there, how they get the drugs here — fentanyl, cocaine. Colombia has cocaine factories where they make cocaine. Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it personally. I didn’t say I’m doing it, but I would be proud to do it because we’re going to save millions of lives by doing it,” he said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
