President Donald Trump said during his 2024 campaign that he wanted to bomb the drug cartels in Mexico, which he links to the high rate of opioid addiction in the U.S. Now, he has secretly moved to deploy soldiers to begin an all-out war with the cartels.
The New York Times reported Friday that a directive was secretly signed for the Pentagon to target certain Latin American cartels that he decided in January to label terrorist organizations.
The Times called it "the most aggressive step so far in the administration's escalating campaign against the cartels."
Thus far, Trump has targeted the countries of origin, demanding that Mexico and Canada, for example, take steps to stop the flood of opioids (particularly fentanyl) coming over the border. A very small percentage comes from Canada, but Trump continued to demand that they take additional steps.
The order provides details indicating that the military could deploy soldiers to war on both land and sea.
Those familiar with the conversations told the Times, "U.S. military officials have started drawing up options for how the military could go after the groups."
One concern remains the legal problems it could cause for soldiers. Constitutionally, Congress is the only branch that can declare war. So, if U.S. forces kill someone in a conflict that Congress hasn't approved, could it be considered "murder?"
The Times said they didn't know where the respective departments were on the matter and, in particular, whether the Department of Justice had penned any options to fight a case over the matter in court.
Trump has specifically targeted Tren de Aragua and MS-13, gangs from Venezuela and Mexico. It isn't clear whether Trump will be sending soldiers to invade either country.