Next target Mexico? After Venezuela op and Greenland threat, Trump eyes 'drug cartels'; warns of land strikes

After, Venezuelan military op and threatening Greenland and Columbia, US President Donald Trump now seems to turn his attention to Mexico, to target drug cartels, following maritime attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

“We are going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico,” said Trump in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity aired on Thursday night, signalling a tougher stance on cross-border cartel operations.




Any direct action against cartels inside Mexico, however, would represent a major escalation of US military involvement in the region. Trump said on Sunday that he was pressing Sheinbaum to allow US troops to operate in Mexico against drug cartels, an offer he claimed she had previously rejected.

then, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum warned on Monday that the Americas “do not belong” to any single power, responding to Trump’s comments about Washington’s “dominance” of the hemisphere following Maduro’s capture.

Trump’s remarks comes after the surprise capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last weekend, the climax of months of sustained US military and economic pressure on the leftist regime.

US had been carrying out strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels since September, killing more than 100 people. Trump has also said US forces conducted a land strike on a Venezuelan docking facility used by such boats. Caracas’ left-wing interim government has condemned the US strikes as a threat to regional stability.

Trump also said that he plans to "buy" Greenland, following Denmark President gave a sharp reaction. Denmark warned that its troops are under standing orders to “shoot first and ask questions later” if Greenland comes under attack, amid rising European unease over the United States under President Donald Trump openly weighing military action to seize the Arctic territory.

Denmark’s defence ministry said a Cold War-era directive requires soldiers to respond instantly to any foreign invasion, without waiting for political clearance or formal orders. Speaking to Danish daily Berlingske, the ministry said the rule obliges forces to “immediately take up the fight” if attacked and remains fully in force.