Mexico’s president says she denied Trump offer to target cartels with US troops
Ashleigh Fields
Sat, May 3, 2025
The Hill.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that she rejected President Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops to the country to fight against drug trafficking.
In remarks to a university in Mexico, Sheinbaum responded to a Friday report from the Wall Street Journal about the two countries’ relationship amid the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl coming from the southern border.
The piece stated that Trump suggested the U.S. send troops to Mexico, which Sheinbaum confirmed on Saturday.
“And do you know what I told him? No, President Trump,” she said Saturday in Spanish. “The territory cannot be violated. Sovereignty cannot be sold. Sovereignty is cherished and defended.”
“It’s not necessary. We can collaborate. We can work together,” Sheinbaum continued. “But you in your territory and us in ours. We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the United States’ army in our territory.”
The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.
Earlier this year, Trump slapped tariffs on Mexico over his view that the country is not doing enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Many goods, under a 2020 trade agreement, are exempted from the levies.
In February, Sheinbaum sent 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the U.S. border in February amid the threats.
Last month, Trump also threatened to impose additional tariffs on the Latin American country over a water dispute. In response, Sheinbaum announced she would be sending water to Texas.
Amid Trump’s calls to crack down on fentanyl, the State Department declared several Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations in February after suggesting fentanyl overdoses were a direct result of drugs being smuggled across the southern border.
Sheinbaum has allowed the U.S. to conduct drone flights over Mexico to locate fentanyl labs in the northern part of the region.
But Trump has continued to press Sheinbaum despite her repeated denials regarding the potential presence of U.S. forces in the country.
“This cannot be an opportunity for the U.S. to invade our sovereignty. With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion,” Sheinbaum told reporters three months ago after Trump adviser Elon Musk suggested cartels identified by the State Department were eligible for strikes.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions or any other action from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence or sovereignty of the nation … [including] violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea or air,” she added at the time.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Ashleigh Fields
Sat, May 3, 2025
The Hill.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that she rejected President Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops to the country to fight against drug trafficking.
In remarks to a university in Mexico, Sheinbaum responded to a Friday report from the Wall Street Journal about the two countries’ relationship amid the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl coming from the southern border.
The piece stated that Trump suggested the U.S. send troops to Mexico, which Sheinbaum confirmed on Saturday.
“And do you know what I told him? No, President Trump,” she said Saturday in Spanish. “The territory cannot be violated. Sovereignty cannot be sold. Sovereignty is cherished and defended.”
“It’s not necessary. We can collaborate. We can work together,” Sheinbaum continued. “But you in your territory and us in ours. We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the United States’ army in our territory.”
The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.
Earlier this year, Trump slapped tariffs on Mexico over his view that the country is not doing enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Many goods, under a 2020 trade agreement, are exempted from the levies.
In February, Sheinbaum sent 10,000 Mexican soldiers to the U.S. border in February amid the threats.
Last month, Trump also threatened to impose additional tariffs on the Latin American country over a water dispute. In response, Sheinbaum announced she would be sending water to Texas.
Amid Trump’s calls to crack down on fentanyl, the State Department declared several Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations in February after suggesting fentanyl overdoses were a direct result of drugs being smuggled across the southern border.
Sheinbaum has allowed the U.S. to conduct drone flights over Mexico to locate fentanyl labs in the northern part of the region.
But Trump has continued to press Sheinbaum despite her repeated denials regarding the potential presence of U.S. forces in the country.
“This cannot be an opportunity for the U.S. to invade our sovereignty. With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion,” Sheinbaum told reporters three months ago after Trump adviser Elon Musk suggested cartels identified by the State Department were eligible for strikes.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions or any other action from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence or sovereignty of the nation … [including] violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea or air,” she added at the time.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
AAMER MADHANI
Sun, May 4, 2025
President Donald Trump walks to talk with reporters on Air Force One as he heads back to Washington, Sunday, May 4, 2025, from West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected his proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico to help thwart the illegal drug trade because she is fearful of the country's powerful cartels.
The comments by Trump came a day after Sheinbaum confirmed that Trump pressed her in a call last month to accept a bigger role for the U.S. military in combating drug cartels in Mexico.
Trump said it was “true” that he proposed sending the troops to Mexico and lashed into Sheinbaum for dismissing the idea.
“Well she's so afraid of the cartels she can’t walk, so you know that’s the reason," Trump said in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. "And I think she’s a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can’t even think straight.”
The U.S. military presence along the southern border with Mexico has increased steadily in recent months, following Trump’s order in January to increase the army’s role in stemming the flow of migrants.
The U.S. Northern Command has surged troops and equipment to the border, increased manned surveillance flights to monitor fentanyl trafficking along the border and sought expanded authority for U.S. Special Forces to work closely with Mexican forces conducting operations against cartels.
But Sheinbaum said that U.S. troops operating inside Mexico was going too far.
“He said, ‘How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States military come in and help you.’ And you know what I said to him? ‘No, President Trump,’” she said on Saturday. “Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.”
She added that she told Trump their two countries “can work together, but you in your territory and us in ours.”
Trump in February designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” many gangs and cartels smuggling drugs into the U.S. , restricting their movements and lending law enforcement more resources to act against them.
But Sheinbaum’s stance — and Trump's response — suggest that U.S. pressure for unilateral military intervention could create tension between the two leaders after cooperation on immigration and trade in the early going of Trump's second term.
Trump said the U.S. military is needed to stem the scourge of fentanyl in the United States.
“They are bad news,” Trump said of the cartels. “If Mexico wanted help with the cartels we would be honored to go in and do it. I told her that. I would be honored to go in and do it. The cartels are trying to destroy our country.”
The White House has also linked its efforts to reduce the flow of fentanyl to Trump’s tariff plan, saying he wants to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable for stemming the flow of the drug into the U.S.
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