Overview

• President Trump secretly signed an August 8 directive empowering the Pentagon to plan direct military operations against Latin American cartels labeled as foreign terrorist organizations.
• U.S. military officials are drafting options that include drone strikes, naval interdictions and special operations to target groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG, MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
• White House, Pentagon and Justice Department legal reviews remain undisclosed, raising questions under the Posse Comitatus Act and congressional war-powers over the authority to use force abroad.
• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum publicly refused any U.S. military presence on Mexican soil, intensifying diplomatic tensions over national sovereignty.
• The move builds on earlier cartel terrorist designations and expanded drone surveillance as the administration seeks to curb the fentanyl surge driving thousands of U.S. overdose deaths.