Former President Donald Trump is reportedly mulling over a controversial strategy that involves deploying special-ops units into Mexico to target high-ranking leaders of major drug cartels, should he reclaim the presidency.
"When I return to the White House … we will put the cartels out of business."
-President Trumppic.twitter.com/Ac2T2M6qdK
— GOP (@GOP) May 1, 2024
Sources close to Trump disclosed to Rolling Stone magazine that the former president has voiced support for this notion during discussions with allies, including a Republican lawmaker. Allegedly, Trump is weighing this tactic regardless of whether the Mexican government sanctions it, questioning why such a mission hasn’t been pursued earlier and asserting that the US military possesses more formidable capabilities than the cartels.
REPORT: Donald Trump plans to send "Assassination Squads" into Mexico to kill Cartel leaders if elected president.
🔥🔥🔥
According to a new report from the Rolling Stone, Trump told people close to him that the U.S. military has "tougher killers than they do" and doesn't care… pic.twitter.com/hpEeOZhQUN
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 8, 2024
Drawing parallels to the successful raid that led to the demise of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019, Trump reportedly sees these covert operations as viable. He also advocated for the formation of a “kill list of drug lords” to systematically eliminate them. Rolling Stone previously reported that in 2023, Trump instructed his advisors to compile a range of military options for confronting Mexican drug cartels, encompassing drone strikes, air assaults, troop deployments, and other measures.
In his bid for a second term, Trump has publicly pledged to utilize Special Forces, cyber warfare, and other clandestine methods to inflict significant harm on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations. During his presidency, Trump exerted considerable pressure on the Mexican government to combat what he referred to as “bad hombres” along the US-Mexico border.
Meanwhile, Mexican cartels persist in engaging in illicit activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling, and violent clashes along the southern border. Federal authorities have noted that cartel members along the border are increasingly arming themselves with sophisticated “military-grade” weaponry.
Calls for more robust action against Mexican drug cartels have also emanated from within the Republican Party. Senators Tom Cotton and Morgan Luttrell introduced legislation in February aimed at compelling the Biden administration to devise strategies for capturing or neutralizing the leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, recognized as one of Mexico’s most ruthless and perilous cartels.
