Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Saturday that former U.S. President Donald Trump had proposed sending American troops into Mexico to help fight drug cartels; a proposal she firmly rejected.
Speaking at a university event near Mexico City, Sheinbaum addressed the contents of a recent Wall Street Journal report, which claimed Trump has been pressuring Mexico to allow greater U.S. military involvement in anti-cartel operations. She said Trump made the offer during a phone call between the two leaders.
“In one of the calls, he said to me, ‘How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the U.S. Army come in to help you,’” Sheinbaum recounted. “And you know what I told him? No, President Trump. Our territory is sacrosanct. Sovereignty is sacrosanct. Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.”
While emphasizing that Mexico remains open to collaboration, Sheinbaum was unequivocal in her stance (per Reuters): “We will never accept the presence of the United States military on our soil.”
In response to the report, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council told Reuters that Trump has made it “crystal clear” Mexico needs to do more to dismantle cartels and drug trafficking networks. The spokesperson added that the U.S. remains ready to expand on the “already close cooperation” between the two nations.
According to the NSC, Trump and Sheinbaum have worked together to maintain what they called “the most secure southwest border in history,” though they acknowledged that cartels and terrorist-designated organizations still pose major threats to both countries.
Trump has long floated the idea of unilateral U.S. military action if Mexico fails to stop the cartels. The leaders have held multiple calls in recent months to discuss drug trafficking, border security, trade, and migration.
During one of those conversations, Sheinbaum said she pushed for U.S. support to stop the flow of American weapons into Mexico, a major driver of cartel violence. “We can collaborate, we can work together,” she said. “But you can do it in your territory, and we’ll do it in ours.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, tensions between the two spiked during a phone call on April 16, when Trump reportedly insisted that U.S. armed forces should take a lead role in confronting Mexican drug gangs, particularly those involved in smuggling fentanyl across the border.
The U.S. designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in February – an aggressive move some analysts interpret as laying the groundwork for potential military intervention. U.S. airborne surveillance of cartel operations in Mexico has also reportedly increased in recent months.
In response, Sheinbaum has announced a proposed constitutional reform that would strengthen legal protections around Mexico’s national sovereignty.
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