Trump Escalates Pressure on Mexico, Demands Action Against Cartel-Allied Officials

Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump has renewed his pressure campaign on Mexico, declaring that criminal organizations “run Mexico” and questioning the Mexican government’s ability to confront them, just days after his administration formally demanded that Mexico pursue corrupt public officials who have worked with drug cartels.

Speaking at a lunch with first responders and law enforcement representatives in the White House Rose Garden, Trump acknowledged that Washington is cooperating with Mexico on security matters but repeated his accusation about the power of criminal groups, saying he has raised the issue directly with President Claudia Sheinbaum.

“We’re working with Mexico, but unfortunately the cartels run Mexico,” Trump said. He said Sheinbaum rejects that characterization, though he again spoke favorably about her personally.

Demand Targets Officials Who Aid Cartels

The remarks follow Presidential Determination 2026-23, covering fiscal year 2027, whose section on Mexico calls for corrupt officials who have aided cartels and “betrayed the security and sovereignty” of their country to be exposed, arrested and prosecuted.

The document does not name specific officials or political parties, but it explicitly lists institutional corruption among the issues Mexico must address. The US demand therefore extends to the networks of collaboration that allow criminal groups to maintain operational capacity, alongside the push to target cartel leaders, operators and financial structures.

Taken together, the two messages present a two-front pressure campaign: a challenge to the Mexican state’s territorial control and a demand for criminal prosecution of public servants who facilitate criminal operations.

Trump Vows to Intensify Ground Operations

In his Rose Garden remarks, Trump said actions against criminal organizations will intensify and claimed his government knows where their members live, adding that ground operations have not yet reached full capacity.

He also said criminal groups have been given a period to surrender, without specifying how long it would last or what conditions would apply. He presented as results of his strategy a 67% reduction in the flow of fentanyl across the southern border and a 97% drop in drugs entering through maritime routes, figures he attributed to his administration’s actions without detailing the methodology used for the comparison.

Trump did not announce a date or a specific operation inside Mexico during the event, but his remarks reinforced pressure on Sheinbaum’s government by arguing that Mexican authorities should confront the cartels and questioning whether they can.

Sheinbaum Defends Mexican Institutions

Sheinbaum has rejected the claim that the Mexican state has lost control to criminal organizations and has defended the training of the country’s security forces, while maintaining cooperation with the United States under the principle of respect for sovereignty.

In one of her press conferences, after Trump’s remarks before the UN General Assembly, Sheinbaum said a Mexican state exists with the capacity to confront crime and praised the work of the men and women who serve in its institutions.

She also said her administration had cut intentional homicides by 50% and defended continued coordinated work with Washington, while ruling out turning differences with Trump into a permanent confrontation.

The US determination itself acknowledges increased seizures, the dismantling of laboratories and security deployments by Sheinbaum’s government, but describes Mexican investment as insufficient to sustain and expand operations against the cartels, their resources and their collaboration networks.