Trump administration is planning new mission in Mexico against cartels, current and former U.S. officials say
Source: NBC News
Nov. 3, 2025, 5:00 AM EST
WASHINGTON The Trump administration has begun detailed planning for a new mission to send U.S. troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels, according to two U.S. officials and two former senior U.S. officials familiar with the effort.
The early stages of training for the potential mission, which would include ground operations inside Mexico, has already begun, the two current U.S. officials said. But a deployment to Mexico is not imminent, the two U.S. officials and one of the former U.S. officials said. Discussions about the scope of the mission are ongoing, and a final decision has not been made, the two current U.S. officials said.
The U.S. troops, many of whom would be from Joint Special Operations Command, would operate under the authority of the U.S. intelligence community, known as Title 50 status, the two current officials said. They said officers from the Central Intelligence Agency also would participate.
A U.S. mission using American forces to hit drug cartel targets inside Mexico would open a new front in President Donald Trumps military campaign against drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere. So far, the administration has focused on Venezuela and conducting strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-planning-new-mission-mexico-cartels-current-forme-rcna241167
Billions spent on killing and ZERO on saving lives.
Botany
(75,880 posts)Trump pardons drug kingpins even as he escalates U.S. drug war rhetoric
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/31/nx-s1-5415939/trump-pardons-drug-kingpins-even-as-he-escalates-the-u-s-drug-war
Trump pardons Silk Road dark web market creator Ross Ulbricht
US President Donald Trump says he has signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, who operated Silk Road, the dark web marketplace where illegal drugs were sold.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7e0jve875o
Tanuki
(16,179 posts)who make a (literal) killing from supplying the cartels with weapons.
https://giffords.org/analysis/leaked-data-reveals-how-the-american-gun-industry-profits-from-cartel-violence-in-mexico/
"USA Today released a major story today revealing the US gun shops and smugglers responsible for nearly 80,000 firearms illegally trafficked into Mexico.
The Sinaloa, CJNG, Del Norte and Gulf cartels [have] an insatiable appetite for American guns, according to Alamdar Hamdani, US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. According to the article:
"Despite efforts to stem the flow, these American firearms are smuggled south as part of the cycle of Latin-American narcotics headed north. The violence in Central America fueled, in part, by guns also has contributed to the migration crisis at the US border.
USA Todays analysis identifies a handful of gun dealers who are collectively responsible for more than 1,000 guns recovered in Mexico, including multiple big box retailers near the border. One gun store in Pearland, Texas, conducted more than $1 million in cash sales in 2019 and sold six Barrett .50 caliber rifles to an unemployed American that were later recovered in the Mexican home of a high-level cartel leader.
A handful of gun dealers are collectively responsible for more than 1,000 guns recovered in Mexico, including big box retailers near the border.
Such data is as troubling as it is rare. Why? The government keeps it secret. As USA Today explains, Gun trace data is kept out of public view by a rider to a Congressional bill known as the Tiahrt Amendment, passed in 2003 to shield gun shops from scrutiny. ....(more)
Lovie777
(21,134 posts)Wonder Why
(6,371 posts)Lonestarblue
(13,125 posts)He seems to think he can wage war on any country he chooses or indeed take over other countries.
These cartels are probably as well armed as the US military for guerrilla fighting. How many of our troops will die invading our next-door neighbor?
FPGramma
(14 posts)Take over South America and you can rationalize Gulf of America.
travelingthrulife
(3,813 posts)Xi gets the rest.
liberalgunwilltravel
(993 posts)This could be tinfoil hat territory, but considering everything Trump does is for his own monetary advantage, what if the goal of his "drug war" is to consolidate control over illicit drug distribution among a cabal of his contacts for his own benefit?
Bayard
(27,794 posts)He's going to force the issue. He might as well declare war on all of South America. Drugs are just his flimsy excuse for taking over these countries.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/04/mexico-sheinbaum-trump-american-troops-00325257
MEXICO CITY Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump proposed sending American troops into Mexico to help her administration fight drug trafficking but that she rejected it.
Her remarks to supporters in eastern Mexico came in response to a Wall Street Journal article published the day before, describing a tense phone call last month in which Trump reportedly pressured her to accept a bigger role for the U.S. military in combating drug cartels in Mexico.
He said, How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States military come in and help you. And you know what I said to him? No, President Trump.
She added: Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.
republianmushroom
(22,078 posts)He is already committing murder on international water.
Eugene
(66,598 posts)This America First "anti-war" president is threatening military action against an ever-growing list of countries. Who's next?
róisín_dubh
(12,182 posts)Mexico has a lot of problems- a lot. It doesnt need the US military in the mix. They have a strong (if not problematic) military and an incredibly strong civil society.
The cartels are armed to the teeth.
I reckon the first US soldier captured and tortured by the Zetas will end any American support for this in an instant.