Trump Signs EO to use the US Military to Target Cartels on Foreign Soil (1 Viewer)

[MT15]

I think this may need its own thread. This has a lot of potential to go sideways. There is obviously a disconnect between what the EO reportedly says and what Mexico thinks it says. I will post the EO itself but as of now it isn’t available. The WSJ seems to downplay the idea that US troops would operate unilaterally on foreign soil, and it didn’t reference the EO.

Trump Orders Pentagon to Prepare to Target Latin American Drug Cartels — The Wall Street Journal

Options under discussion focus on special forces operations, intelligence support and precision targeting

apple.news

“In a phone call in April, Trump pressured Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to allow the U.S. military to become more involved in the fight against the country’s drug cartels, according to people familiar with the discussions. Trump also has previously threatened to take unilateral military action against the cartels if Mexico doesn’t take more drastic action to dismantle them.

Sheinbaum has resisted Trump on this point, emphasizing the implied threat to Mexican sovereignty. She said Friday that Mexico had been informed about Trump’s directive to the Pentagon and that it solely concerned activity in the U.S.

“It has to do with his country, it does not have anything to do with our territory,” she said. “The U.S. is not coming to Mexico with its military.””

Here is the Miami Herald article linked by Eyeore in a post in the Epstein thread:

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-military-directive-cartels-mexico-venezuela-2110960

 

[MT15]

Wonder if this new activity is related to this. Maybe this thread should be for all things about drug cartels?

 

[MT15]

From the Miami Herald article linked above:

“The order signed by Trump reportedly provides an official basis for direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels, which would likely mean in the Gulf of Mexico and potentially within Mexico itself. Making such moves without the approval of Congress opens up legal questions about whether the military could be seen as murdering suspected cartel members, rather than acting in the defense of the U.S., the Times noted. "Previous efforts to escalate the war on drugs through partnered operations in Colombia and Mexico failed to eliminate drug trafficking organizations or stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States," Brandan Buck, Cato Institute foreign policy research fellow, told Newsweek. "Unilateral action would assuredly fail to stem the flow of drugs into the United States while causing significant diplomatic fallout."”

 

[efil4]

We have reached the Clear and Present Danger portion of this Admin

 

[Maxp]

It's overdue. I just wish we had more competent people running the country.

 

[fooferdoggie]

With the incompetence of this admin, a lot of innocent people will die. With the profit margins going up, it's going to get even worse here.

 

[donato]

I have my doubts they will actually do much if anything on Mexican land.

 

[fooferdoggie]

What will happen is that the cartels will integrate with innocents, just like in the Middle East.

 

[MT15]

I have a hard time believing the US military would essentially invade Mexico to get at the cartels. They are, according to WSJ, already in Mexico as trainers for the Mexican military, but they are limited to training. And I assume it’s a small number of troops.

I don’t trust Hegseth to draw any line if Trump decides to be stupid though. I also don’t know who we have in military leadership any longer, do any of them have what it takes to stand up to Trump if he commands them to go into Mexico?

I wish we had people in the military and in WH leadership like Mattis, Coats, and John Kelly. All we have now are drunk sycophants and regular sycophants, I’m afraid.

 

[Dragon]

Don't forget these quotes. Mexico may no be the only target...

On January 20, 2025, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing illegal drugs—especially fentanyl—and migrants crossing their borders as justification. He claimed that Canada allowed a flood of fentanyl into the U.S., and warned the tariffs would remain until the issue was resolved...

In early 2025, Trump stated that fentanyl entering the U.S. from Canada was "massive"

A fact sheet by the White House claimed Canada had failed to do enough to curb fentanyl trafficking, citing growing drug labs and production facilities in western Canada.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

Don't forget these quotes. Mexico may no be the only target...

I think it's all a pretext to invading Mexico and Canada. Republicans and Trump are running the demonizing of Canada up the flagpole to see how people react.

This is another action by Republicans and Trump that follows the pattern of the Nazi's. The Nazi's felt like part of Poland was rightfully theirs. Republicans and Trump feel like North America is rightfully theirs. That's why they tried to rename the Gulf of Mexico and say that Canada should become the 51st state.

I believe that if they think they can get away with invading either country, they will. The first step to getting away with it is tricking enough people into believing that Mexico and/or Canada poses a threat to our national security, so we have to invade them to protect ourselves.

I think the Republicans and Trump are going to find out that they can't trick enough people into supporting an invasion, so they will chicken out like they mostly do when people stand up to them.