Mexico\u2019s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, says she had \u201ca very good conversation\u201d with President Donald Trump on Monday \u2014 a call that focused heavily on cartel violence, cross-border drug trafficking, and the Trump administration\u2019s push for tougher action against transnational criminal groups<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The call lasted about 15 minutes and came after Sheinbaum said she requested direct dialogue with the Trump administration, following a week of escalating rhetoric from Trump about the cartels and Mexico\u2019s security crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States could use the U.S. military to strike cartel networks inside Mexico \u2014 an idea that resonates with many Republican voters who view the cartels as a direct national-security threat tied to fentanyl deaths, human trafficking, and illegal immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheinbaum, however, again rejected the idea of U.S. intervention, signaling that her government wants continued security cooperation, but on Mexico\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump \u201cstill insisted that if we ask for it, they could help\u201d with military forces, Sheinbaum said, adding that she rejected the offer again:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWe told him, so far it\u2019s going very well, it\u2019s not necessary, and furthermore there is Mexico\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity and he understood.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
For Republican-leaning audiences, the tension here is straightforward: Mexico wants U.S. support \u2014 but not U.S. control, even as American communities continue facing the fallout of cartel-driven fentanyl trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump presses the issue: \u201cThe cartels are running Mexico\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s posture has been consistent: treat cartels like the enemy force they are.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a Fox News interview aired last week, he said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It\u2019s very sad to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
That message plays to a key Republican argument: the U.S. cannot allow criminal organizations to operate with near-military power just across the border, especially when those groups fuel drug deaths and destabilize communities on both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Venezuela raid adds new weight to Trump\u2019s threats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The conversation also came in the wake of a dramatic U.S. operation in Venezuela \u2014 the removal of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/strong> \u2014 which Sheinbaum said Trump raised directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe (Trump) asked me my opinion about what they had done in Venezuela and I told him very clearly that our constitution is very clear, that we do not agree with interventions and that was it,\u201d Sheinbaum said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheinbaum\u2019s comments reflect a longstanding Mexican government position against foreign military interventions, but the timing matters: the Venezuela operation has made leaders across the region take Trump\u2019s warnings more seriously \u2014 including when he talks about Mexico, Cuba, and even Greenland. AP News+1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rubio demands \u201ctangible results\u201d from Mexico<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration\u2019s pressure campaign hasn\u2019t been limited to the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mexico\u2019s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ram\u00f3n de la Fuente spoke Sunday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who called for \u201ctangible results\u201d and more cooperation to dismantle cartel power, according to the U.S. State Department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That demand reflects what many Republican voters have argued for years: Mexico must do more than make promises \u2014 it must deliver measurable enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheinbaum claims progress \u2014 and wants credit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sheinbaum said Mexico shared results with the U.S. side, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- a significant drop in homicides<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- falling U.S. fentanyl seizures<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- lower fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Even so, U.S. officials and border-state Republicans have frequently questioned whether Mexico\u2019s progress is durable and nationwide, or simply temporary or concentrated in certain regions while cartels continue adapting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why intervention is still unlikely \u2014 for now<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Experts say U.S. intervention in Mexico remains unlikely because Mexico is currently doing much of what Washington has requested and remains one of America\u2019s most important economic partners. But they also expect Trump to keep using hardline rhetoric to maintain pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cuba left out \u2014 but still a point of friction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sheinbaum said the two leaders did not discuss Cuba, even though Trump has recently threatened action related to the island. Mexico remains an important ally of Cuba, including through oil shipments, which have become even more significant now that the Trump administration has moved to stop Venezuelan oil from reaching Cuba. <\/p>\n\n\n\n