President Claudia Sheinbaum firmly dismissed remarks made by Ronald Johnson, Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Mexico, suggesting the possibility of unilateral U.S. military action against drug cartels in Mexico.
“We don’t agree. He said everything’s on the table—well, no,” Sheinbaum said in her morning press conference on Friday. “Not everything is on the table, nor on the chair, nor on the floor, nor anywhere. Not that.”
Her comments followed Johnson’s response to a question from U.S. Senator Chris Coons during a Senate confirmation hearing, where he was asked whether the U.S. should refrain from military action in Mexico without the Mexican government’s consent.
Johnson, a former CIA official and ex-ambassador to El Salvador, said that while the U.S. would prefer to work with Mexico, “all cards are on the table” if American lives were at risk.
The debate over potential U.S. military action against Mexican cartels has intensified since Trump’s return to office. On his first day in his second term, Trump signed an executive order directing the State Department to consider designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Asked whether he would order military strikes in Mexico, he responded, “Could happen. Stranger things have happened.”
Further escalating tensions, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Mexican military officials that if Mexico did not address cartel-government collusion, the U.S. military was prepared to act unilaterally. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, Trump’s “government efficiency” czar, claimed that several Mexican cartels were “eligible for drone strikes” following their designation as terrorist organizations.
Sheinbaum has consistently rejected claims that the Mexican government provides “safe havens” for cartels. Despite tensions, she maintains that her administration has a “relationship of respect” with Trump, citing recent trade negotiations that led to the suspension of U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods.
The Mexican president reiterated her stance on Friday: “We collaborate within a framework of respect, we coordinate with each other… but Mexico is respected.”