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Trump planning for military invasion of Mexico to attack cartels if re-elected: report
March 29, 2023
Former President Donald Trump is asking his advisers for a plan to launch a military invasion of Mexico to attack drug cartels if re-elected in 2024, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday.
"Trump lieutenants have briefed him on several options that include unilateral military strikes and troop deployments on a sovereign U.S. partner and neighbor, the sources say. One such proposal that Trump has been briefed on this year is an October white paper from the Center for Renewing America, an increasingly influential think tank staffed largely by Trumpist wonks, MAGA loyalists, and veterans of his administration," reported Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley. "The policy paper — titled 'It’s Time to Wage War on Transnational Drug Cartels' — outlines possible justifications and procedures for the next Republican commander-in-chief to 'formally' declare 'war against the cartels,' in response to 'the mounting bodies of dead Americans from fentanyl poisonings.'"
The magazine acknowledges that this would be an invasion of a sovereign country, writing that the U.S. should “conduct specific military operations to destroy the cartels and enlist the Mexican government in joint operations to target cartel-networked infrastructure, including affiliated factions and enablers with direct action.” However, it brushed off the legal concerns, saying that “It is vital that Mexico not be led to believe that they have veto power to prevent the US from taking the actions necessary to secure its borders and people.”
This idea is not new. In 2019, Trump considered designating the drug cartels as terrorist organizations, a move that could have opened the door to military action against them, but administration officials decided against it. More recently, some Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have called for the cartels to be bombed.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made clear that he does not support American military operations inside his country's borders. And there are a number of ways such an operation can go wrong; this comes after the U.S. spent 20 years trying to stabilize Afghanistan and clear the Taliban out of the country, only for the government to collapse and the Taliban to re-emerge.
This comes as President Joe Biden has stepped up efforts against the cartels, which in addition to flooding the U.S. with dangerous drugs fueling a nationwide epidemic of overdose deaths, are committing widespread organized violence in Mexico on a level seen in some civil wars. The U.S. and Mexican governments are working toward a deal where the former cracks down on guns going south to arm the cartels, while the latter tries to stop fentanyl from going north.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Trump busted by CNN fact checker for telling a 'story that cannot possibly be true'
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Former President Donald Trump spent his afternoon giggling over poll numbers showing Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) failing to persuade Fox viewers to support him over Trump.
The Fox poll showed Trump at 43 percent support in Feb. 2023, and DeSantis at 28 percent. After a rollout of his book, a tour of early primary states and a slew of speeches and appearances on Fox, DeSantis fell to 24 percent. Trump, by contrast, went up to 54 percent support among Republican primary voters.
"It’s bad news for Ron DeSanctimonious and his RINO Globalist Donors," Trump needled the Florida governor. "Probably because of his terrible Votes against Social Security and MediCare (sic), and also, of course, because people love the job I did as President of the United States. We were Number One (sic) in every category, respected all over the World, and now our Country is going down the 'tubes'—We are a Failing Nation!" (sic)
Less than 30 minutes later, Trump had to post another comment trashing DeSantis and his falling numbers.
"FoxNews Viewers are VERY Happy about the just released FoxNews Polling that shows Ron DeSanctimonious being absolutely CRUSHED and, more importantly, dropping like a ROCK!" Trump wrote.
The drop comes a month after DeSantis saw a loss in support in the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll. The poll then showed Trump leading DeSantis 46 percent to 23 percent. It was a 5 percent decrease for DeSantis since Jan. 2023.
The news comes on the same day that DeSantis is being mocked for being outwitted by the cartoon character "Mickey Mouse."
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Former President Donald Trump claimed two weeks ago that he would be arrested as soon as last Tuesday as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg weighed charges over a $130,000 hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. That arrest did not happen, and the grand jury has faced a series of delays, including a break for much of early April.
But, former White House ethics czar and impeachment counsel Norm Eisen told CNN on Wednesday, that doesn't mean Trump is off the hook, or that the D.A.'s case is in trouble.
"Norm, if it had seemed like this investigation had actually reached a boiling point earlier in the month when Trump was himself invited to testify and then predicted he would be arrested," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "You remember that. Is this break that's upcoming now bad news for the prosecution's momentum?"
"Well, I don't think it is bad news," said Eisen. "You'll remember that Trump himself turned that up to a boil by saying he was going to be arrested last Tuesday. The prosecution never said that they were going to arrest or charge him on a particular day, and they've been cautious in the public signals."
IN OTHER NEWS: 'Out-negotiated by Mickey Mouse': Trump team taunts DeSantis as Disney gambit blows up in his face
Furthermore, Eisen continued, the evidence still weighs overwhelmingly on the side that Bragg intends to get the indictment.
"All the indicators — you have the fact that Trump had the opportunity to put a witness before the grand jury," said Eisen. "That typically happens before charges are filed. You had that witness, Robert Costello, go in. You had a rebuttal witness come in, in the form of David Pecker. You know as well as I do that these holidays — Passover, Easter, spring break — those can be disruptive to the calendar in New York. Well, when we were getting ready to put President Trump on trial in the impeachment, Nancy Pelosi announced we were going to be taking a long break, and it occasioned weeks of additional time. Investigations have their own rhythm. I think it still is every indication charges are coming."
Watch video below or at this link.
Norm Eisen says grand jury delays aren't good news for Trump www.youtube.com
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