President Trump has said that Mexican criminal cartels pose a significant security threat and that his administration is taking military-style action against them. This announcement was made in a recent statement.
“The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control,” said Donald John Trump. “They have total control over a whole nation, posing a grave threat to our national security. The cartels are waging war in America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels, which we are doing.”
Cartel-related violence along the U.S.–Mexico border has intensified in recent years, driven by infighting among transnational criminal organizations such as Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation. According to the Council on Foreign Relations and other security analyses, these groups have diversified their illicit operations, including oil theft, human trafficking, and extortion, complicating law enforcement efforts. In response, the U.S. has strengthened border security, designated certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and increased military and intelligence cooperation.
Violence between Mexican drug cartels has surged, with non-state conflict deaths peaking at over 18,000 in 2021—a steep increase from earlier decades. Armed confrontations between cartel factions now represent one of the most lethal security threats in Mexico.
Between 2018 and 2024, arrests of U.S. citizens in Mexico for cartel-related activities rose by 457%, jumping from 449 to 2,500 cases. Additionally, over 1,000 Americans were detained for people smuggling in Texas between mid-2021 and August 2024.
Donald J. Trump was born on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York. He is a businessman-turned-politician currently serving his second non-consecutive term as the 47th President of the United States (2025– ). He previously held the presidency from 2017 to 2021 and rose to prominence as the head of the Trump Organization and host of the reality TV show The Apprentice. His current role directly relates to border security due to his administration’s focus on immigration crackdowns, deportation policies, and designating cartels as terrorist organizations.
