Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that U.S. troops will not enter Mexico, rejecting reports that President Donald Trump has authorized the Pentagon to use military force against Latin American drug cartels. "There will be no invasion-that is rejected, absolutely rejected," Sheinbaum told reporters in Mexico City. "The United States is not going to come to Mexico with troops."
Her remarks followed a New York Times report citing sources who said Trump had secretly signed a directive permitting military operations both at sea and on foreign soil to target drug trafficking organizations. The White House has not confirmed the existence of the directive.
Trump earlier this year signed an executive order designating eight drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, six of them based in Mexico. The designation could allow for expanded use of U.S. intelligence and military assets against the groups. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, "We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug dealing organizations."
Sheinbaum said her government had been informed of an order related to the cartels but stressed it "had nothing to do with the participation of any military personnel." She added, "It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said 'No.'"
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson issued a statement Friday emphasizing bilateral cooperation. "We are united. We will use all the tools at our disposal to protect our peoples, working collaboratively, as two sovereign allies," he said. On social media, Johnson credited Sheinbaum and Trump's leadership with bankrupting cartels and making both countries safer.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to Newsweek that Trump's "top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations."
The New York Times report said the alleged directive provides "an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations" against cartels. Critics warn such action could trigger a major diplomatic crisis. Cato Institute foreign policy fellow Brandan Buck said a unilateral U.S. intervention "would assuredly fail to stem the flow of drugs into the United States while causing significant diplomatic fallout."
