NYT: Trump Secretly Authorized Military Strikes on “Cartels”, Sheinbaum says There Will be no Invasion
This article originally appeared in the August 8, 2025 edition of Sin Embargo.
Mexico City. U.S. President Donald Trump has secretly signed an order to the Pentagon to use military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations, The New York Times reported this morning, citing people familiar with the matter.
“The decision to bring the U.S. military into the fight is the most aggressive step to date in the administration’s escalating campaign against the cartels. It demonstrates Trump’s continued willingness to employ military forces to carry out what has been viewed primarily as a law enforcement responsibility: stemming the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs. The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against the cartels,” reads the statement signed by Helene Cooper, Maggie Haberman, Charlie Savage, and Eric Schmitt.
U.S. military officials have begun developing options for how the military could pursue the groups, the paper reported.
In this regard, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo ruled out the possibility of the United States invading Mexico and explained that her government had been previously informed of this decision by the U.S. administration.
“The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military. We cooperate, we collaborate, but there will be no invasion. That is ruled out. Absolutely ruled out. In addition, we have stated in every call that it is not permitted, nor is it part of any agreement, much less. When they have raised it, we have always said no, that we can collaborate in other ways, but not about that. So, no. We were even informed of this executive order, and that it had nothing to do with the participation of any military personnel or any institution in our territory,” the President said during her morning press conference this Friday.
She also asserted that U.S. agencies with a presence in Mexico are highly regulated: “I believe we are the country with the most regulations for foreign agents, whether from the United States or another country.”
“We’ll see what the executive order says, but there’s no risk that they’ll invade our territory,” he insisted.
Just yesterday, the White House announced it is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a video posted on X, accused Maduro of collaborating with groups such as the Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel. The United States previously offered a $25 million reward for information related to Maduro. Some observers believe this is a warning to Venezuela that the United States is willing to intervene in the country under the guise of drug trafficking.
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush sent more than 20,000 troops to Panama to arrest its leader, Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.
On July 15, in an interview with Los Periodistas, Ioan Grillo, who specializes in border and drug trafficking issues, said that within the White House, there are two factions engaged in a dispute over Mexico. The first is a group pushing for military intervention to combat drug cartels. The second is a group committed to dialogue and collaborative work, affirmed American journalist Ioan Grillo.
In the interview with Alejandro Páez and Álvaro Delgado, Grillo, who is presenting his book Blood, Guns, and Money, indicated that the Donald Trump administration wants to intervene in Mexican territory to demonstrate the power of the United States. “If we talk about the White House right now, there are two factions fighting over Mexico. One faction is seeking military intervention, military attacks on Mexican territory. I think it’s not a well-thought-out strategy to defeat the cartels. They’re thinking that they need to demonstrate the power of the United States against Mexico rather than defeat the cartels.”
The journalist recognized the work done so far by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who has consistently sought dialogue with the United States. “What Claudia Sheinbaum and (Secretary of Security) Omar García Harfuch did in these first, very critical months gives even more strength to this faction working with Mexico. In my opinion, President Claudia Sheinbaum has handled the meetings well, but for how long, how far can she go?”
Grillo stated that he has even been able to confirm with several sources that the military is already preparing at Fort Bliss, a United States Army post in Texas, for a possible intervention in Mexican territory. “If you talk to several military personnel. I have been to Fort Bliss in El Paso and spoken with the two-star general who is looking into this, there are some who are indeed looking at this issue. It’s not fabricated and it’s not a joke. They are seriously considering attacks on Mexico and looking for targets.” He elaborated: “But there are also many people saying what we achieved and they are beginning to see what they are looking for in a middle ground and they say how much US troops Mexico would accept working with Mexican troops. It’s not politically possible for Claudia Sheinbaum to do that, but they are already doing training, they are looking for how much they can promote from trainers to advisors.”
“But ordering the military to crack down on illicit trafficking also raises legal questions, including whether it would be considered ‘murder’ if American forces, acting outside of an armed conflict authorized by Congress, killed civilians, even criminal suspects, who did not pose an imminent threat. It is unclear what lawyers from the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department have said about the new directive or whether the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has issued an authoritative opinion assessing the legal issues,” The New York Times says.
This year, Trump has already deployed the National Guard and active-duty troops to the southwest border to stem the flow of drugs and migrants, and has increased surveillance and drug interdiction efforts. Upon returning to office in January, Trump signed an order directing the State Department to begin labeling drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“Trump has particularly targeted Venezuelan and Mexican organizations. In February, the State Department designated Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (known as MS-13), and several other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, saying they posed a threat to national security beyond that posed by traditional organized crime,” the Times reports .