Sunday 04/May/2025 – 05:10 AM
Mexico President Claudia Shinbom said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump suggested sending American forces to Mexico to help her administration fight drug smuggling, but she refused.
Her statements to her supporters in eastern Mexico came in response to an article in the Wall Street Journal published the previous day, describing a tense phone call last month that Trump was pressuring her to accept a greater role for the American army in combating drug gangs in Mexico.
He said: “How can we help you fight drug smuggling? I suggest that the US military come and help you.”
And you know what I said to him? “No, President Trump.”
She added, “Sovereignty is not for sale.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the request to comment on Shinbaum’s comments.
The American military presence has increased steadily along its southern border with Mexico in recent months, after Trump’s order in January to increase the role of the army in stopping the flow of migrants.
The northern American leadership sent forces and equipment to the border, and increased the uninhabited monitoring flights to monitor the smuggling of fentanel along the border, and sought to expand the authority of the Special Forces to work closely with the Mexican forces that carry out operations against gangs.
On February 19, Trump ranked many gangs and drug smuggling gangs to the United States as foreign terrorist organizations, which limited their movements and giving law enforcement authorities more resources to work against them.
However, Shinbom’s hardline position on Saturday indicated that the American pressure for unilateral military intervention will put it and Trump in a confrontational path after months of cooperation in immigration and trade issues.
“We can work together, but you are in your lands while we are in our lands,” said Shinbom.
“We will never accept the presence of the American army in our lands,” she added amid a sharp applause from her supporters.
