After capo’s slaying, Trump asks Mexican president: ‘What’s going on?’
MEXICO CITY — Following the overthrow of the cartel leader known as “El Mencho” and the violence south of the border, President Trump called his Mexican counterpart and asked: “What’s going on in Mexico? How is the situation?”
The friendly conversation on Monday lasted about eight minutes, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters at her regular morning news conference on Wednesday.
The two talked about Sunday’s sensational raid that resulted in the death of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of two major organized crime syndicates responsible for smuggling drugs into the United States.
Mexican officials insisted that no American forces were on the ground, and U.S. officials agreed; But according to statements in both Mexico and the United States, intelligence from Washington played a key role in finding and confronting the long-elusive capo.
Sheinbaum told Trump that cooperation between the two countries was “going very well.”
The Mexican military said Oseguera was discovered hiding in a forested hideout in the western state of Jalisco after authorities tracked down a visiting female friend.
But in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, Trump portrayed El Mencho’s death solely as a US achievement, saying: “We also took down one of the most sinister ringleaders. You saw that yesterday.”
These remarks drew great applause before a joint session of the US Congress.
Trump did not mention Mexico’s central role in El Mencho’s overthrow.
Many Mexican commentators on social media objected to Trump undertaking a high-risk operation. Mexican officials say at least 25 Mexican National Guard soldiers were killed as supporters of the slain cartel boss took to the streets and attacked in a wave of violence that spread across the country.
“Trump is so cynical,” said one X commenter. “Mexican heroes are dead!”
The 25 National Guard deaths marked the largest single-day casualty toll for Mexican security forces in recent years, if not decades.
But other commentators have suggested that Trump is strong-arming Mexico to confront the cartels.
Opposition Mexican senator Lilly Tellez wrote that Sheinbaum “moved forward not with conviction but because of pressure from Trump, a foreign president.”
Sheinbaum shrugged off Trump’s version of Sunday’s raid.
“We know President Trump,” Sheinbaum said, opposing the U.S. leader but without attacking him. “But the information we provided is correct.”
The Mexican president has strongly resisted Trump’s offer to deploy U.S. military assets on the ground to assist against Mexican cartels. He insisted that direct action by the United States would be a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty.
Earlier in his State of the Union address, Trump repeated his long-standing claim that “much of Mexico — really most of Mexico — is controlled by murderous drug cartels.” He credited U.S. efforts to reduce illicit drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid that, according to U.S. officials, is mostly produced in Mexico and then smuggled into U.S. territory.
The U.S. leader did not mention ongoing enforcement efforts in Mexico that have resulted in large-scale illegal drug seizures, the destruction of clandestine laboratories and the arrest of scores of cartel operatives. In the last year or so, the Mexican government has sent nearly 100 cartel suspects to the United States for trial.
Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
