Mexico's President Continues to Stand up to Trump

In a world where it seems like most countries are bowing down to Donald Trump’s intimidation tactics, Mexico’s socialist President Claudia Shienbaum continues to stand up tall against him.

VIA NPR

Donald Trump previously suggested that the US military could strike land-based cartel targets in Mexico. He’s been striking boats in the Caribbean for a couple of months now, all under the explanation of them being “cartel boats”.

Claudia Shienbaum rejected his idea of the US military intervention in Mexico’s sovereignty, even though Trump continues to make these threats. She said clearly in a press conference:

“It’s not going to happen.”

She then said that over the course of multiple calls, Trump has suggested that: ‘We offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico or whatever you need to combat criminal groups.” She then said that she stands firm on rejecting collaboration and intelligence-sharing with the US military. She repeated her stance that no outside intervention would be allowed on Mexican soil. Shienbaum also said that:

“We do not accept an intervention by any foreign government… I’ve told him on the phone. I’ve said it with the State Department, with Marco Rubio.”

These comments from the press conference came in right when Trump was meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office. Trump, unsurprisingly, used that meeting to address his expanding military campaign against drug cartels and criminal organizations in Latin America. When a reporter asked Trump what his thoughts were on “potentially launching strikes on Mexico”, Trump said:

“To stop drugs? It’s OK with me.  Whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” Trump said. “I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. This is some big problems over there.”

He then proceeded to talk about the US’s ongoing bombing campaign of the Caribbean, which started on September 2nd, and has taken 83 lives, totalling 21 missile strikes on alleged “drug-smuggling boats”.

Trump also stated, “Look, every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives, not to mention the destruction of families.”

He keeps repeating that 25,000 number, but there is no proof anywhere that suggests each strike actually saves 25,000 people.

Data obtained from Freedom of Information Act requests actually revealed that most people bringing in Fentanyl are actually U.S. citizens, accounting for 81.2% of all seizures along the southwest border from 2019 to 2024. The majority of these arrests were made of passengers crossing the border.

Legally, only Congress can formally declare war in the US, but in August, Trump reportedly signed a secret order that permits the military to take rogue action against cartels.

More recently, Claudia Shienbaum and Trump met in person after long-standing tension, but the conversation focused on the FIFA games set in different parts of the US and Mexico.

While Trump continues to hype up his rhetoric, positioning unilateral strikes as a needed response to the drug crisis, Shienbaum’s stance underlines a much larger geopolitical reality: Mexico will not be bullied into sacrificing its sovereignty for Trump’s political theater.

Her administration has made clear that cartel violence is a grave issue-but one that must be addressed through institutional reform, economic investment, and bilateral diplomacy, not impulsive militarism at the direction of a foreign power.

Her refusal to bend has drawn both domestic support and international attention, especially as Trump positions himself as the arbiter of security far beyond U.S. borders.

As Trump expands his militarized approach to Latin America, Claudia Shienbaum’s full-throated rejection of U.S. intervention remains a critical reminder that sovereignty still counts, even when bullied by a superpower.

The data and history contradict Trump’s narrative, Congress has not authorized these actions, and the moral and legal implications of cross-border strikes remain deeply troubling.

Whether or not Trump continues pushing this aggressive doctrine, Mexico’s refusal to legitimize it sends a clear message: intimidation isn’t policy, and the United States does not get to unilaterally decide the fate of its neighbors under the guise of “saving American lives.”