Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum again dismissed President Donald Trump’s threat to authorize U.S. military strikes inside Mexico, saying flatly on Tuesday that such an intervention “is not going to happen.” Her remarks signaled yet another public pushback against an increasingly aggressive posture from Washington as the Trump administration sharpens its focus on drug trafficking and migration in the region.
Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, Sheinbaum addressed Trump’s latest comments in which he said he was open to approving military action against cartels operating in Mexico. “Would I want strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do,” Trump said Monday, adding that Mexico had “drug corridors” the U.S. was keeping under “major surveillance.”
Sheinbaum said the administration later clarified it would intervene only with Mexico’s permission. “We are not going to ask for it because we do not want intervention from any foreign government,” she said. She pointed directly to historical precedent, invoking the 1846–48 Mexican-American War: “The last time the United States came to intervene in Mexico, they took half of the territory.”
Her response continues a pattern she has established in her first months in office: calm but unambiguous assertions of sovereignty when pressed by the United States. Earlier this month, Sheinbaum publicly denied reports that Washington intended to send troops into Mexico, saying she had already rejected such offers from Trump. “We do not agree with any process of interference or interventionism,” she said at the time.
Still, Trump has maintained pressure on Mexico, calling on the country to do more to curb both drug trafficking and migration across the shared border. Though he has complimented Sheinbaum personally — calling her “a tremendous woman” and “a very brave woman” — he has also claimed that “Mexico is run by the cartels,” language that has generated criticism from Mexican lawmakers and foreign-policy analysts alike.
Trump’s latest threat comes as the administration expands its military presence in the Caribbean, sending the USS Gerald Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — to waters near Venezuela. The U.S. military says the deployment is aimed at disrupting maritime drug routes; since September, U.S. forces have destroyed 21 alleged trafficking boats, killing at least 83 people.
But many regional experts argue the show of force has more to do with pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom Trump has accused of stealing last year’s election. The escalation, coupled with Trump’s rhetoric toward Mexico, has suggested a broader and more confrontational U.S. approach to Latin America.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled as much in a recent statement. “Some countries are cooperating with us enthusiastically — others, less so,” Rubio wrote. “The former will be rewarded. As for the latter, Mr. Trump has already shown that he is more than willing to use America’s considerable leverage to protect our interests.”
