The president Claudia Sheinbaum instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intensify communication with Washington and even request a direct conversation with the president donald trump following his recent statements about possible ground attacks against drug cartels in Mexico.
Sheinbaum responded to questions from the press in his morning briefing on Trump’s warningshighlighting that Mexico and the United States maintain an agreement with the Coast Guard and the Northern Command so that surveillance in continental waters falls to the Secretary of the Navy.
This coordination was established several months ago, the president explained, in a context of concerns about violence linked to drug trafficking and US calls to reinforce actions against criminal groups.
Morning press conference from Acapulco, Guerrero. Friday January 9, 2026 https://t.co/vL5LQRovC5
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) January 9, 2026
Asked what would happen if Trump decided to station shipping companies on the coasts of Mexico as he did with Venezuela and undertake actions on land, the president assured that her Government does not contemplate “intervention scenarios” and emphasized the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation within the frameworks of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Mexico.
Ground operation, Trump’s announcement
On Thursday, Trump stated that Washington is preparing to begin ground operations against drug trafficking cartels, which he blamed for controlling large areas of Mexico and a serious security crisis in his country.
In an interview given to the network Fox NewsTrump declared: “We are going to start attacking on the ground when it comes to the cartels,” insisting that these criminal organizations represent a direct threat to American national security.
The president maintained that the cartels “are running Mexico” and accused them of being responsible for the deaths of between 250,000 and 300,000 people each year in the United States, mainly due to drug trafficking.
The statements come a few days after a US operation in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, transferred to New York to face charges of narcoterrorism, a precedent that has raised international attention on Washington’s foreign security policy, according to Trump himself.
Since the beginning of his second term, the president has reiterated his intention to more forcefully combat drug trafficking, especially the flow of fentanyl from Mexico.
Mexico and the USA
In recent days, he praised the Mexican president, although he noted that her government faces serious difficulties due to the power of the cartels. “Mexico has to organize itself,” he said, while maintaining that the United States “will have to do something” if the situation does not change.
Trump withdraws the US from dozens of international organizations, including UN entities
Trump and members of his cabinet have reiterated that they do not rule out the use of military power to protect what they consider vital security interests, a position that anticipates a hardening of the US approach to transnational organized crime.
At the beginning of last year, Sheinbaum warned that he would not tolerate an “invasion” by the United States and that he would expand a lawsuit against gun stores in that country, after his counterpart Donald Trump designated the drug cartels as terrorists.
At that time, the Mexican president assured that although the declaration on the cartels is an autonomous decision of Washington, it should not constitute an “opportunity (…) to invade our sovereignty.” according to press reports.
