The Trump administration is reportedly planning military action in Mexico to combat drug cartels.
President Donald Trump has been ramping up military operations against the cartels. The White House authorized several airstrikes against boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean that were alleged to be smuggling narcotics to the United States.
But now, it appears the administration will be taking further action in Mexico, according to NBC News.
The Trump administration has begun detailed planning for a new mission to send U.S. troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels, according to two U.S. officials and two former senior U.S. officials familiar with the effort.
The early stages of training for the potential mission, which would include ground operations inside Mexico, has already begun, the two current U.S. officials said. But a deployment to Mexico is not imminent, the two U.S. officials and one of the former U.S. officials said. Discussions about the scope of the mission are ongoing, and a final decision has not been made, the two current U.S. officials said.
The U.S. troops, many of whom would be from Joint Special Operations Command, would operate under the authority of the U.S. intelligence community, known as Title 50 status, the two current officials said. They said officers from the Central Intelligence Agency also would participate.
A U.S. mission using American forces to hit drug cartel targets inside Mexico would open a new front in President Donald Trump’s military campaign against drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere. So far, the administration has focused on Venezuela and conducting strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats.
The mission currently being planned for would be a break with past U.S. administrations, which have quietly deployed CIA, military and law enforcement teams to Mexico to support local police and army units fighting cartels but not to take direct action against them.
If the mission is given the final green light, the administration plans to maintain secrecy around it and not publicize actions associated with it, as it has with recent bombings of suspected drug-smuggling boats, the two current and two former U.S. officials said.
The Trump administration is preparing a new mission in Mexico to target drug cartels
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 3, 2025
According to NBC News, citing U.S. officials, the plan involves deploying American troops and intelligence officers to strike drug labs and cartel leaders inside Mexico.
Early-stage training… pic.twitter.com/IphgYwbaFC
The new operations will rely primarily on drone strikes against major drug labs and high-profile cartel leaders.
The administration designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This designation empowers military and intelligence agencies to conduct covert actions against these groups.
📺: NEW: The Trump administration is reportedly in the early stages of detailed planning for a military and intelligence operation that would involve deploying U.S. troops and CIA officers into Mexico to conduct strikes against drug cartels.
— Kagan.Dunlap (@Kagan_M_Dunlap) November 3, 2025
This marks a significant escalation… pic.twitter.com/wGMJG3lgUz
The Independent reported that the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) have already begun training for potential missions in Mexico and other countries like Venezuela.
Critics have pushed back against the administration’s military operations against Venezuelan boats, arguing that the president did not obtain Congressional approval for such a move. This new approach is likely to elicit even more of a backlash. When asked about his refusal to seek approval from Congress, Trump said his administration is “just going to kill people.”
“I don’t think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them,” he said. “They’re going to be, like, dead, OK.”
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