Washington: As he seeks reelection to the White House in 2024, former US President Donald Trump reportedly asked several policy advisers to create "battle plans" to deal with Mexican cartels. He threatened to designate drug cartels operating across the border as terrorist organisations while still in office, but later changed his mind.
A "range of military options," including "strikes that are not sanctioned by Mexico's government," have been requested by Trump from campaign advisers, according to the outlet's Friday report, which cited two unnamed sources with knowledge of the conversation.
One of the sources told Rolling Stone, "'Attacking Mexico,' or whatever you'd like to call it, is something that President Trump has said he wants 'battle plans' drawn for. He has bemoaned the missed opportunities of his first term, and many of his supporters want the second Trump administration to have fewer missed opportunities.
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Several different plans, some of which involve unilateral military action and US troop deployments in Mexico without permission from local authorities, were presented to the former president by staff.
One possible choice was described in a policy paper from the Center for Renewing America (CRA), a think tank that is closely associated with Trump and the larger MAGA movement, published in October 2022. The document, titled "It's Time to Wage War on Transnational Drug Cartels," urges the following Republican administration to engage in armed conflict with drug traffickers, citing "the mounting bodies of dead Americans from fentanyl poisonings."
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Even though it is suggested that the White House "enlist the Mexican government in joint operations," the proposal also states that "It is vital that Mexico not be led to believe that they have veto power to prevent the US from taking the necessary actions to secure its borders and people."
Trump has previously promised to "order the Department of Defense to make appropriate use of special forces, cyber warfare, and other overt and covert actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations" should he win reelection in 2024, but it is still unclear whether he would actually carry out the CRA plan.
In a statement earlier this year, he said, "When I am president, it will be the policy of the United States to take down the cartels, just as we took down ISIS and the ISIS caliphate."
While serving as president, Trump debated whether to label Mexican cartels as terrorist groups but ultimately decided against it after speaking with his counterpart in Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
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Nevertheless, after threatening to impose new tariffs, Trump persuaded Mexico City to send about 15,000 soldiers to help secure the US border.