Green Berets and Reaper Drones: Trump’s Shadow War in Mexico

The Pentagon is arguably as focused on Mexico as it is on China. On a call with his Mexican counterpart earlier in the month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth highlighted, “the importance of Mexico’s armed forces continuing to disrupt cartel activities that threaten the United States.”

If the Mexican government were to step up military actions against the cartels, it’s possible that American troops would be deployed as well. Regardless, Webber believes that escalation is practically inevitable. “The comparatively more aggressive policies towards cartels align with Trump’s stated prioritization of domestic security issues, and it is likely that further intelligence and military options will be explored as time goes on,” he said. 

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Trump made unilateral U.S. action more likely by placing the Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacan, and other major regional narcotics-trafficking cartels on the official list of designated terrorist organizations.