President Donald Trump was issued what one analyst described as a blunt “dose of reality” Thursday after he warned that an “INVASION” was underway at the U.S. southern border.
In a Truth Social post, Trump threatened to “IMMEDIATELY” double tariffs on Mexico unless it stopped the “Huge CARAVANS” he claimed were marching toward the United States. While around 1,000 migrants entered Mexico from Guatemala last week, by Sunday, they had only reached the Mexican municipality of Tapachula, well over 1,000 miles from the U.S. border, according to The Latin Times.
“I cover Mexico for The New York Times, and there is no such ‘invasion.’ About 1,500 people recently began walking north from the southern tip of Mexico — weeks away from the United States — and very few, if any, will reach the northern border,” wrote The New York Times’ Jack Nicas, who serves as the outlet’s Mexico City bureau chief.
“Over the past two years, the Mexican government has repeatedly broken up these small caravans within days of them starting. And there have been far fewer of them since Trump took office. The reality is the number of illegal border crossings remain near historic lows.”
The post was one of eight Trump fired off Thursday morning, including one demanding to know whether six Democratic lawmakers would be prosecuted and another that appeared to abandon his push for a diplomatic end to his deeply unpopular war against Iran.
“So far today, the president has posted about a non-existent invasion, declared the U.S. will no longer engage with Iran and sidelined his vice-president to search for some unspecified ‘corruption,’ but only in blue states,” wrote journalist Chris Bury, formerly of ABC News.
Mexican authorities have already moved against at least one caravan. Mexico’s National Guard and state police intercepted a group of about 100 migrants in the southern state of Chiapas on Nov. 10, according to The Latin Times.
In his post, Trump tied the caravans to Republicans’ “perceived loss” in last week’s midterms, in which Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.
I cover Mexico for The New York Times, and there is no such "invasion."About 1,500 people recently began walking north from the southern tip of Mexico — weeks away from the United States — and very few, if any, will reach the northern border.Over the past two years, the Mexican government has repeatedly broken up these small caravans within days of them starting. And there have been far fewer of them since Trump took office.The reality is the number of illegal border crossings remain near historic lows.
— Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) November 12, 2026