Overview
- After a roughly 15-minute call on Jan. 12, President Claudia Sheinbaum declined President Donald Trump’s offer to deploy U.S. forces and reiterated that security cooperation will respect Mexican sovereignty.
- Trump has renewed threats to target cartels on Mexican soil, saying the U.S. would “start now hitting land,” a stance that gained attention following the U.S. raid that captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente, urging stronger cooperation and “tangible results” on dismantling cartels and curbing fentanyl and weapons trafficking.
- Sheinbaum cited enforcement gains, including a claimed 50% year-over-year drop in fentanyl flows to the U.S., and pledged continued collaboration without foreign military intervention.
- Senior officials from both countries are set to meet in Washington on Jan. 22–23 to advance bilateral security talks, as analysts judge unilateral U.S. intervention in Mexico unlikely despite continued rhetoric.