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By Dan Gooding and Jason Lemon
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President Donald Trump's administration is creating detailed plans to send U.S. troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to combat drug cartels, NBC News reported Monday, citing two U.S. officials and two former senior U.S. officials.
"The Trump administration is committed to utilizing an all-of-government approach to address the threats cartels pose to American citizens," a senior Trump administration official told NBC in response to the report.
Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon and White House for comment via email Monday morning. The Department of State deferred to the Department of Defense.
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Why It Matters
The report comes after weeks of escalating attacks on alleged drug smugglers out of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing multiple suspects the Trump administration has said are known cartel and criminal gang members. Members of Congress have raised concerns about a potential move to land-based operations, which could be seen as the White House carrying out an act of war.
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What To Know
The officials who spoke with NBC News said that early training was underway to send troops and intelligence officers into Mexico, as part of a wider operation to tackle the drug trade.
Reports have circulated for months floating the possibility of U.S. troops getting involved directly in the fight against Mexican drug cartels. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously rejected the idea.
"The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military," Sheinbaum said in August. "We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out."
The White House is reported to be trying to avoid a military invasion, instead opting to deploy troops as agents and carry out the mission largely in secret, using drone strikes to hit drug labs and cartel members.
Both the reported operation and the known strikes on Venezuelan boats come as Trump has sought to take a tougher stance on cartels, designating a number of groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations earlier this year—a move which opens up the options available to tackle the groups, now considered a national security threat.
Despite calls for more transparency over recent strikes, and concerns about diplomatic relations with Mexico, Venezuela, and other Central and South American nations, the U.S. president has been clear that he feels military force is necessary in order to send a strong message to the criminal groups.
As for Mexico, the country is playing its part, with Sheinbaum ramping up efforts to stop the flow of drugs over the border into the U.S., while also allowing CIA flights and surveillance operations to expand within her borders.
What People Are Saying
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on X last Wednesday: "The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans. The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate."
Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, previously said during the Parliamentary Meeting of the Greater Caribbean in Defense of Peace: "This is not just a threat to Venezuela—it is a threat to the entire Caribbean and the Americas. An action is being promoted that makes it seem natural to threaten the sovereignty and internal affairs of other nations."
What's Next
It remains unclear when such an operation would take place, or whether Mexican officials would be informed ahead of time.
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