Trump Blasts Mexico Pres. Over Troops  05/05 06:08

   

   WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Sunday said Mexican 
President Claudia Sheinbaum rejected his proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico 
to help thwart the illegal drug trade because she is fearful of the country's 
powerful cartels.

   The comments by Trump came a day after Sheinbaum confirmed that Trump 
pressed her in a call last month to accept a bigger role for the U.S. military 
in combating drug cartels in Mexico.

   Trump said it was "true" that he proposed sending the troops to Mexico and 
lashed into Sheinbaum for dismissing the idea.

   "Well she's so afraid of the cartels she can't walk, so you know that's the 
reason," Trump said in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. 
"And I think she's a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, 
but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can't even think straight."

   The U.S. military presence along the southern border with Mexico has 
increased steadily in recent months, following Trump's order in January to 
increase the army's role in stemming the flow of migrants.

   The U.S. Northern Command has surged troops and equipment to the border, 
increased manned surveillance flights to monitor fentanyl trafficking along the 
border and sought expanded authority for U.S. Special Forces to work closely 
with Mexican forces conducting operations against cartels.

   But Sheinbaum said that U.S. troops operating inside Mexico was going too 
far.

   "He said, 'How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the 
United States military come in and help you.' And you know what I said to him? 
'No, President Trump,'" she said on Saturday. "Sovereignty is not for sale. 
Sovereignty is loved and defended."

   She added that she told Trump their two countries "can work together, but 
you in your territory and us in ours."

   Trump in February designated as "foreign terrorist organizations" many gangs 
and cartels smuggling drugs into the U.S. , restricting their movements and 
lending law enforcement more resources to act against them.

   But Sheinbaum's stance -- and Trump's response -- suggest that U.S. pressure 
for unilateral military intervention could create tension between the two 
leaders after cooperation on immigration and trade in the early going of 
Trump's second term.

   Trump said the U.S. military is needed to stem the scourge of fentanyl in 
the United States.

   "They are bad news," Trump said of the cartels. "If Mexico wanted help with 
the cartels we would be honored to go in and do it. I told her that. I would be 
honored to go in and do it. The cartels are trying to destroy our country."

   The White House has also linked its efforts to reduce the flow of fentanyl 
to Trump's tariff plan, saying he wants to hold Mexico, Canada, and China 
accountable for stemming the flow of the drug into the U.S.