President Donald Trump said Sunday that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected his offer to send U.S. troops to Mexico to help fight against cartels because she is afraid of them.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he floated the idea of sending American troops to deal with the Mexican cartels facilitating drug trafficking, and criticized Sheinbaum for refusing his offer.
“She’s so afraid of the cartels she can’t walk … And I think she’s a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can’t even think straight,” Trump said.
His reaction came after Sheinbaum confirmed that Trump pressured her in a call last month to allow the U.S. military to play a larger role in tackling drug cartels in Mexico.
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Sheinbaum said she told Trump at the time that Mexico would “never accept” a U.S. military presence.
“No, President Trump, our territory is inalienable, sovereignty is inalienable,” Sheinbaum claimed to have said. “We can collaborate. We can work together, but with you in your territory and us in ours. We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the United States Army on our territory.”
There has been a larger American military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border after Trump issued an order in January to increase the army’s role in slowing the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S.
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In addition to fighting illegal immigration, Trump said American troops are needed to slow the amount of fentanyl being brought into the U.S. by drug cartels.
“They are bad news,” Trump said Sunday, referring to the cartels. “If Mexico wanted help with the cartels, we would be honored to go in and do it. I told her that I would be honored to go in and do it. The cartels are trying to destroy our country. They’re evil.”
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U.S. Northern Command has deployed troops and equipment to the southern border, increased manned surveillance flights to monitor fentanyl trafficking along the border and requested expanded authority for U.S. Special Forces to work closely with Mexican forces conducting operations against cartels.
In February, Trump designated many gangs and cartels smuggling drugs into the U.S. as “foreign terrorist organizations,” giving law enforcement more resources to take action against the groups.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
