U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on the phone with Mexico’s top military authorities for the first time and reportedly made shocking statements about potential military action in the country if certain demands weren’t met in a timely fashion.
According to those briefed on the Jan. 31 call, Hegseth warned the officials that the U.S. military was ready to intervene unilaterally if Mexico didn’t address the collaboration between the government and drug cartels.
Top Mexican officials on the conversation were reportedly astonished and incensed, believing he was advocating for American military intervention within Mexico. The Department of Defense did not respond.
Mexico’s trade negotiations with President Trump are now threatened by Hegseth’s private warning, which has been repeated by other Trump administration officials.
Their concern is that calls for Mexico to stop migrant trafficking and fentanyl smuggling are subtly supported by the possibility of U.S. military intervention, rather than merely 25% tariffs that would severely harm the nation’s economy.
Trump announced that those tariffs, coupled with an additional 10% on China, would take effect on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada, the United States’ two largest trading partners.
These nations have been working to find a way to avoid the penalties in recent days.
There are concerns that it won’t be as simple to avoid tariffs as it was on February 3, when Sheinbaum received a monthlong reprieve by sending 10,000 National Guard troops to the border.
Senior Mexican officials are concentrating on delivering concrete results on the border and drugs that Trump can see as signs of progress.
According to former U.S. officials, Trump has made yet another surrender with Mexico’s remarkable handover this week of 29 drug cartel bosses who are being charged in the United States.
China, a mutual trading foe, is the subject of another concession proposed by Mexican officials. On Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg TV that the Mexican government had made a “very interesting proposal” to match U.S. tariffs on China.
The formerly unlikely possibility that the Trump administration may follow through on its military action promises has caused a stir in Washington.
Former military and trade officials from the United States and Mexico, as well as legislative staffers, analysts, and specialists in drug policy, convened around a large table on Capitol Hill on Thursday for a three-hour exercise that outlined the actual consequences of U.S. military attacks in Mexico.
The simulation depicted border closures, violent flare-ups, civil unrest on both sides of the border, and significant economic disruptions between the two nations.
[READ MORE: Secret American Drone Program Helping in Capture of Mexican Cartel Heads]
