Washington, D.C. — The Trump administration wants to continue working with Mexico to combat drug cartels but must reserve the right to conduct unilateral military operations if necessary to protect American citizens, Vice President JD Vance said in an interview.
“What we want to do is work with Mexican authorities to make sure they can handle the cartels themselves. Of course, we will have to take defensive measures to protect the people of the United States,” Vance told N+ in an interview with journalist Ilia Calderón.
When asked whether the US would cross the “red line” set by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has ruled out foreign military operations on Mexican soil, Vance did not rule out unilateral action.
“We want to work with the government of Mexico, but we really need to eliminate these cartels. They are very bad organizations, as you surely know. And one of the things, unfortunately, we have already expressed our concern about, is that the cartels have had free rein in the neighboring country during the Joe Biden administration because they had a lot of money,” Vance said.
“We want to help the government and the people of Mexico reduce the power of those cartels. The cartels are like a cancer for the neighboring country; we want to help them deal with that,” he added.
Vance said the US would take military action if it felt it was necessary to protect Americans. “We don’t want to do it unless we work with the government of Mexico. But we have to reserve that right,” he said.
He gave the example of a cartel preparing a massive shipment of weapons and fentanyl to enter the US, saying that if the only way to stop it was to pursue the cartel, “of course we will go after it.”
“We would love to collaborate with the Mexican government, but we have to defend our people,” Vance said.
The remarks align with comments made earlier by President Donald Trump, who described Sheinbaum as a “very good woman” but said she was too afraid of the cartels to act against them. Trump has repeatedly suggested he would attack cartels on Mexican soil if Mexico did not do enough.
