Trump Wants to Go to War in Mexico

Donald Trump has repeatedly proposed bombing and even invading Mexico – a sovereign state and the top trading partner of the United States. Trump is proposing a reckless and dangerous new conflict that would cost billions of taxpayer dollars and put American lives at risk.

Despite the risks it poses to the American people, the U.S. economy, and our national security, Trump’s reckless warmongering is quickly gaining steam among MAGA Republicans in Washington. But there’s a reason this policy proposal has been condemned by bipartisan experts, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and even by Trump’s former National Security Advisor. Invading, bombing or otherwise taking military action in Mexico is dangerous, ineffective, and would put American service members at risk. Not to mention that previous efforts to target drug lords and production facilities have had little to no effect on trafficking levels while drastically increasing levels of violence and migration.

Trump and his MAGA allies are serious about entangling the U.S. in another ill-conceived war

• Trump is considering unilateral military action in Mexico. The Trump administration has begun detailed planning for a new mission to send American troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels. The mission would include ground operations inside Mexico and direct action against cartels – but would be conducted in secrecy without any public acknowledgement or Congressional oversight.

• Trump has demanded “battle plans” to “attack Mexico.” On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly asked policy advisers and campaign staff for a range of military options to launch attacks in Mexico, including strikes that are not sanctioned by Mexico’s government. Trump has been briefed on several options that include unilateral military strikes and troop deployments in a sovereign U.S. partner and neighbor.

• Republicans in Congress support Trump’s plan to go to war in Mexico. Before Trump started his second term, Republicans in the House introduced a bill seeking authorization for the use of military force in Mexico and close Trump ally Tom Cotton said he is open to sending U.S. troops into Mexico, even without that nation’s permission.

• Trump asked military leaders to launch strikes in Mexico and deny responsibility. In 2020, Trump asked his defense secretary about the possibility of launching missiles into Mexico, maintaining that the United States’ involvement in a strike against its southern neighbor could be kept secret. When his military leaders objected to the plan, Trump suggested they could blame other nations for the strike, adding that “no one would know it was us.”

American military leaders – and the Mexican government – oppose Trump’s dangerous plan to send our troops to Mexico

• Mexico’s government opposes U.S. military action inside its borders. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected offers from Donald Trump to send troops into Mexico to confront cartels. The incursion of US troops into Mexico, which Trump is considering even without the support of the Mexican government, would be an unprecedented step that would almost certainly fracture an already tenuous relationship.

• Military experts and Trump allies have warned against Trump’s war in Mexico. Military experts and even Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton have warned against invading Mexico. “Some argue launching a U.S. offensive or invasion will, simply put, not solve the problem. Others also point out that Mexico is a U.S. partner, not an adversary, and that taking such unilateral action would shred diplomatic relations and likely cause immense chaos and further eruptions of cartel violence.”

Trump’s half-baked proposal would create chaos and increase migration

• Trump’s Drug War could undermine critical progress against cartels in Mexico. Over the past year, Mexico has experienced a dramatic decrease in violent crimes – thanks in part to Sheinbaum’s effective security policies. But “the presence of U.S. troops in Mexico will severely and irreparably undermine Sheinbaum’s counter-narcotics policies, which are netting results. Crippling the Sheinbaum administration will give rise to an even bigger and stronger enemy south of the border.”

• Increased violence, including crackdowns by the government, increases immigration to the United States. Violence between organized crime groups and the government is fueling “the largest exodus of Mexican families in modern history.” Nearly 90% of Mexicans migrating to the U.S. said they were fleeing violence, extortion, armed clashes, or organized crime.

• Violence in Central America has driven recent waves of migration to the U.S. Recent waves of migration from Central America to the United States were spurred by those fleeing their homes due to violence. Migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have migrated to the United States because their home countries were experiencing “unprecedented levels of violence outside a war zone.”

Trump’s plan will not prevent drug trafficking, but it will lead to more death and destruction

• America's war on drug trafficking in Afghanistan cost lives and didn't lower production levels. The U.S. spent over seven billion dollars on counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan. In spite of that, only one percent of opium produced in Afghanistan was seized – failing to make a meaningful dent in production, which actually increased since the U.S. invasion in 2001. 

• Assassinating drug cartel leaders has not lowered levels of violence or drug trafficking. Killing or capturing cartel leaders hasn't reduced the overall level of violence in Mexico, Central America and the United States. In fact, studies have shown that decapitation of cartels can actually cause violence to increase.

• Mexico’s war on cartels increased – not decreased – violence in the country. Mexican authorities have been waging war against drug cartels for more than a decade, but violence has continued to grow. “Thousands of Mexicans die in the conflict every year. Since 2006, the year the government declared war on the cartels, the country has seen more than 360,000 murders. And huge quantities of drugs continue to make their way into the U.S. 

• Violent crackdowns on drug traffickers in Colombia did not lower drug trafficking into the United States. Billions of dollars in military support provided by the United States during Plan Colombia simply shifted production and transport into other areas of South America.

Published: May 2024

Updated: November 2025

See also: Talking points on Trump’s Reckless Plan to Go to War in Mexico | May 2024