Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum warned the Trump administration on Thursday that her country will not tolerate an invasion of its national sovereignty to target drug cartels.
“This cannot be an opportunity for the U.S. to invade our sovereignty,” Sheinbaum said in response to the Trump administration’s formal designation of eight cartels as terrorist organizations, CBS News reported. “With Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination or interventionism, and even less invasion.”
Mexico’s two main drug cartels, Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa, were included in the terrorist declaration.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that the cartels “constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organized crime,” but the move to designate them as terrorist organizations opens the door for potential military action.
Elon Musk, who leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, posted on X, which he owns, that the move makes the cartels “eligible for drone strikes.”
Experts said that taking military action, either by bombing or invading Mexico, appears unlikely.
In recent days, the administration has increased the use of drones to seek Mexican fentanyl labs.
The drones are part of a covert program started during the Biden administration. The effort was not disclosed until this week.
The CIA has not been authorized to use drones to carry out strikes against the cartels, and information that is being gathered is reportedly being shared with Mexico.
Sheinbaum said Mexico plans to follow through on her promise of expanding legal action against U.S. gun manufacturers if the Trump administration declared the cartels as terrorist groups.
Mexico’s government claims gun manufacturers are negligent by selling weapons that end up being used by drug traffickers. The country has filed a $10 billion lawsuit in the U.S. against gun manufacturers and vendors.
Sheinbaum said the lawsuit could be expanded to allege that gun manufacturers are complicit with terrorist groups.
According to a CBS News investigation, up to a half-million firearms are smuggled into Mexico annually. Another report determined that cartel gunrunners pay Americans to buy weapons all over the U.S., including Alaska, and brokers and couriers then ship the weapons across the border.
Sheinbaum has also made a cash offer to encourage people to leave guns at designated drop-off points, including at churches.
She earlier this month accused the U.S. of slandering her government by claiming it is allied with drug cartels.
“If there is such an alliance anywhere, it is in the U.S. gun shops that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups,” she said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Comments