President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would be proud to destroy the “cocaine factories” in Colombia and that, if necessary, he would approve US attacks against drug cartels in Mexico.
In a press conference in the Oval Office, in which he also addressed measures related to the 2026 World Cup, Trump was questioned about his offensive against drug trafficking in the region.
“Colombia has cocaine factories where the drug is produced. Would I destroy those factories? I would do it with pride, personally. I haven't said I'm going to do it, but I would be proud to do it,” he stated.
Regarding Mexico, he added: “Would I launch attacks in Mexico to stop drug trafficking? That’s fine with me. Whatever it takes to stop drugs.”
Trump justified these controversial statements with his questionable argument that this is how American lives are saved. “Because we’re going to save millions of lives by doing it,” he later said, referring to the anti-drug operations his administration has intensified in the Caribbean and the Pacific, with a military deployment that includes an aircraft carrier, warships, and stealth aircraft.
According to Washington, the forces have carried out at least 21 attacks on vessels involved in drug trafficking, which have left at least 83 dead.
The president also referred to Venezuela, a country that views these operations as an attempt to destabilize the regime of Nicolás Maduro, accused by the United States of leading a drug trafficking network and being one of the leaders of the ‘Cartel of the Suns,’ an organization that will be declared a terrorist group by the State Department.
Trump stated that he would speak with Maduro “at some point,” adding that the leader of the Chavista regime “has not been good for the United States.” He also did not rule out sending US troops to the country. “We have to deal with Venezuela. They have sent hundreds of thousands of people from their prisons to our country,” he said.
These statements come amid growing tensions between Washington and several Latin American governments, in a context of military deployment in the region and cross-accusations regarding the fight against drug trafficking and national sovereignty.
“Just a friendly reminder that a declaration of war and the large-scale use of military force require Congress, according to the United States Constitution, and that extrajudicial killings are not permitted under international law,” Democratic Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury said Sunday in response to remarks by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Background on Colombia's declaration
This latest statement from the US president adds to a series of messages that, for several weeks now, have severely strained relations with Gustavo Petro's government. A month ago, Trump labeled the Colombian president a"drug kingpin" and announced the end of financial aid to Colombia, a symbolic and political blow that marked an abrupt shift in bilateral relations.
Shortly afterward, he called him a"thug" and a "bad person," in a verbal escalation that ultimately paved the way for his inclusion on the Clinton List. These accusations were compounded by Colombia's conditional decertification in the fight against drugs.
