America News Agency

In an interview on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, Trump said, “As far as the cartels are concerned, we are now going to start hitting on the ground. The cartels run Mexico.”

Trump did not provide additional details on the timing or scope of the planned ground assaults.

Ground attacks against cartels in Mexico would represent a significant expansion of U.S. military intervention in the region.

Mexico’s two most powerful criminal organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, control vast territories and are locked in a violent rivalry that led to the deaths of more than 30,000 people last year.

In February 2025, Trump designated six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; Mexico condemned the move as a threat to its sovereignty and as a step that could potentially justify military intervention.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed constitutional reforms to strengthen protections against unauthorized foreign operations and has consistently rejected any U.S. military presence on Mexican soil.

On Monday, Sheinbaum said that the American continent does not “belong” to a single nation, responding to Washington’s claims of “sovereignty” over the hemisphere following Maduro’s capture.

On Sunday, Trump said he had pressured Sheinbaum to allow the deployment of U.S. troops against Mexican cartels, but that she had previously rejected the proposal.