Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed on Saturday that she rejected a proposal from President Donald Trump that included deploying U.S. troops in Mexico to fight against drug cartels.
Addressing a recent Wall Street Journal report that detailed a push from Trump to have the U.S. military take the lead in battling the violent drug cartels in Mexico, Sheinbaum said she responded by rejecting the offer and telling the U.S. president her country is “not for sale.”
“I told him, ‘No, President Trump, our territory is inviolable, our sovereignty is inviolable, our sovereignty is not for sale,'” the Mexican president said at an event on Saturday.
Sheinbaum was firm in her rejection of it in remarks to the crowd over the weekend, saying that such a deployment will “never” happen.
“We will never accept the presence of the United States Army in our territory,” she said.
The Wall Street Journal report on Friday described tension between the two leaders after Trump and Sheinbaum held a phone call in mid-April. Near the end of the 45-minute call, Trump urged the U.S. troop deployment, which Sheinbaum rejected and said her administration would instead cooperate on intelligence sharing.
Despite the apparent impasse over the proposal, Trump has exacted concessions from Mexico throughout his second term.
Most recently, the United States struck a deal with its southern neighbor that will see Mexico provide more water for Texas farmers as part of its obligations under the 1944 water treaty. That came after Trump threatened tariffs and sanctions against the country if it did not comply.
Trump also engaged in a back-and-forth tariff battle with Mexico before his “Liberation Day” announcement in early April. While ultimately backtracking on a 25% tariff on all Mexican imports, the country still faces a 25% tariff on all automobiles and car parts.
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Trump and Sheinbaum also reportedly spoke on Thursday about trade and ways to lower these auto tariffs.
Mexico was notably spared from the so-called reciprocal tariffs announced by Trump on April 2, all of which have been paused for 90 days.
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