President Donald Trump recently urged Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to allow US troops into Mexico to combat drug cartels, a request Sheinbaum firmly rejected.
Sheinbaum confirmed during a public event on Saturday a report by the Wall Street Journal that Trump had made the proposal during private phone calls in recent months.
“How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States Army enter to help you,” Trump reportedly told Sheinbaum.
Sheinbaum said she rejected such a proposal, responding, “No, President Trump, our territory is inalienable, sovereignty is inalienable. ... We can collaborate, we can work together, but with you in your territory and us in ours. We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the United States Army on our territory.”
The Trump administration has significantly ramped up military involvement along the southern US border since taking office. This includes expanded CIA surveillance drone operations over Mexican territory and the formal designation of drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Trump has frequently blamed Mexican cartels for the influx of fentanyl into the United States, as the drug crisis has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Trump has publicly criticized Mexico for refusing to target the cartels. The president told the Spanish-speaking network of Fox News last month that Mexico is “very, very afraid of the cartels.”
“We want to help her. We want to help Mexico, because you can’t run a country like that. You just can’t,” Trump said.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said that while cooperation between the US and Mexico is essential, more action is needed from Mexico.
“Mexico still must do more to protect Americans from dangerous foreign terrorist organizations and the drugs and violence they flood into communities on both sides of the border,” Kelly said.
