Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press convention on the Nationwide Palace in Mexico Metropolis, April 2, 2025.
Marco Ugarte/AP
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Marco Ugarte/AP
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump proposed sending American troops into Mexico to assist her administration battle drug trafficking however that she rejected it.
Her remarks to supporters in jap Mexico got here in response to a Wall Avenue Journal article revealed the day earlier than, describing a tense cellphone name final month through which Trump reportedly pressured her to just accept a much bigger function for the U.S. army in combating drug cartels in Mexico.
“He said, ‘How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States military come in and help you.’ And you know what I said to him? ‘No, President Trump.'”
She added: “Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.”
White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman James Hewitt stated in an announcement later Saturday that Trump has labored carefully with Mexico’s president “to achieve the most secure southwest border in history.”
“Dangerous Foreign Terrorist Organizations, however, continue to threaten our shared security and the drugs and crime they spread threaten American communities across the country,” the assertion stated. “The President has been crystal clear that Mexico must do more do combat these gangs and cartels and the United States stands ready to assist and expand the already close cooperation between our two countries.”
The U.S. army presence has elevated steadily alongside its southern border with Mexico in current months, following Trump’s order in January to extend the military’s function in stemming the movement of migrants.
The U.S. Northern Command has surged troops and tools to the border, elevated manned surveillance flights to observe fentanyl trafficking alongside the border and sought expanded authority for U.S. Particular Forces to work carefully with Mexican forces conducting operations towards cartels.
Trump designated most of the gangs and cartels smuggling medicine into the U.S. as international terrorist organizations on Feb. 19, proscribing their actions and lending regulation enforcement extra sources to behave towards them.
However Sheinbaum’s hardline stance Saturday signaled that U.S. stress for unilateral army intervention would put her and Trump on a collision course after months of cooperation on immigration and commerce.
“We can work together, but you in your territory and us in ours,” Sheinbaum stated.
