The president’s words come as the United States conducted its 21st strike on alleged drug boats.
President Donald Trump said on Nov. 17 that he is willing to conduct lethal strikes in Mexico to stop drug trafficking.
“Would I launch strikes into Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me. Whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” he said in the Oval Office.
“I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there,” he continued.
Trump said he is unafraid to take kinetic action similar to those being taken in the Caribbean against alleged drug boats.
“We have almost no drugs coming into our country by the sea, by the waterways, and you know why?” he said. “It’s pretty obvious. Would I do that on the land cars? I would, absolutely.”
Trump said he will do whatever it takes to stop drugs and drug trafficking.
“We have nobody coming in through our southern border, but we know exactly how they get there. The things here, how they get the drugs here, fentanyl, cocaine,” he said.
“Colombia has cocaine factories where they make cocaine. Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it,” he continued. “Personally, I didn’t say I’m doing it, but I would be proud to do it because we’re going to save millions of lives.”
Trump declined to say if he would ask Mexico for permission to strike inside their own country but said he would have talks with the nation.
The president’s words come as the United States conducted its 21st strike on an alleged drug boat.
“On Nov. 15, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization,” posted U.S. Southern Command on X.
“Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” it continued. “Three male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed. The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific and was struck in international waters.”
In Congress, Democrats and some Republicans have questioned the reasoning and legality of the strikes.
“I am deeply concerned about the President’s military actions in the Caribbean, which were taken without congressional authorization, without clear legal justification, and without any evidence presented that it was necessary to protect the United States or its forces from an imminent threat,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said during a Sept. 9 floor speech.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been one of the few Republicans to critique the strikes.
“[Vice President JD] Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military.’ Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??” he said in a Sept. 6 post on X.
Trump has said he will not go to Congress to seek authorization for conducting the strikes.
“I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he told reporters last month. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them.”By
