Sheinbaum challenges Trump over U.S. drug policy

Reporting and context

President Claudia Sheinbaum challenged Donald Trump’s criticism of Mexico, asking what the United States is doing to address drug consumption, distribution and money laundering inside its own borders. According to ZETA Tijuana, Trump’s annual memorandum to Congress for fiscal year 2027 recognized Mexico’s seizures, clandestine-laboratory operations, added security deployments and cooperation that helped remove major cartel leaders, including Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho.” The document also demanded that Mexico take further action against organizations it described as narcoterrorist groups and against public officials allegedly linked to cartels.

Mexico’s Presidency said Sheinbaum’s response was that the country acts every day based on sovereignty and its own assessment of its problems. ZETA Tijuana reported that she questioned where the U.S. effort is to stop drug distributors and address money laundering, while saying Mexico does not need to be judged from outside. She also referred to U.S. requests involving Mexican officials, including former Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, and said those cases remain pending in Mexico while authorities await supporting evidence from the United States.

The president connected the region’s security problems to the origins of the opioid crisis and the illegal movement of firearms. She said the crisis grew from medicines authorized despite known addiction risks and argued that the firepower of organized-crime groups in Mexico cannot be explained without the illegal flow of weapons from the United States. Mexico’s Presidency said Sheinbaum defended the state’s authority to investigate and sanction public servants based on institutional evidence and without foreign pressure.