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According to the report, the move marks “the most aggressive step so far” in Trump’s escalating campaign to dismantle the criminal empires flooding America with fentanyl and other deadly narcotics. The secret order, the paper says, would open the door for “direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil” targeting cartel infrastructure.
Sheinbaum insisted that her government was tipped off ahead of time and made it clear to Washington that any such action would cross a red line.
“We had been told that this order was coming, and it was expressed to us that there was going to be no participation of any military or institution in our territory,” she said.
She then stressed that American operatives already in Mexico are heavily restricted.
“The U.S. agencies that have a presence in this country are very strictly regulated,” she said. “We are the country that has more regulations on foreign agencies.”
But U.S. defense officials, according to The Times, are already mapping out potential strike options against the cartels. The sources — who reportedly spoke on condition of anonymity — said those discussions have included scenarios for targeting cartel operations both offshore and inside foreign jurisdictions.
Critics say Sheinbaum’s reaction fits her pattern of shielding her country’s criminal organizations from serious consequences. Earlier this year, she pushed a constitutional amendment designed to block any foreign investigations or military operations in Mexico without her administration’s explicit approval.
“What we want to make clear in the face of this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty,” Sheinbaum declared back in February.
“This cannot be an opportunity on the part of the United States to invade our sovereignty,” she continued. “So, they can name it whatever they want, but with Mexico, it is collaboration and coordination, never subordination, not interference, and much less invasion.”
The brewing clash sets up yet another tense chapter in U.S.-Mexico relations under Trump’s second term, as the administration weighs how far it’s willing to go to dismantle the sprawling, ultra-violent cartels behind America’s opioid epidemic.
If Trump moves forward, it could mark a historic — and controversial — shift from treating drug trafficking as a law enforcement problem to confronting it with the full force of the U.S. military.
Either way, Sheinbaum’s defiant stance leaves little doubt — she’s ready to go toe-to-toe with Washington over any incursion, even if it means shielding cartels from direct military confrontation.
