Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected
Trump and his MAGAfied Republican Party are pushing plans for military action against drug cartels in Mexico — with or without the Mexican government's consent

Donald Trump is asking for a plan to wage war in Mexico, and the Republican Party is eager to give it to him.

As he campaigns for a second White House term, Trump has been asking policy advisers for a range of military options aimed at taking on Mexican drug cartels, including strikes that are not sanctioned by Mexico’s government, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

“‘Attacking Mexico,’ or whatever you’d like to call it, is something that President Trump has said he wants ‘battle plans’ drawn for,” says one of the sources. “He’s complained about missed opportunities of his first term, and there are a lot of people around him who want fewer missed opportunities in a second Trump presidency.”

Trump lieutenants have briefed him on several options that include unilateral military strikes and troop deployments on a sovereign U.S. partner and neighbor, the sources say. One such proposal that Trump has been briefed on this year is an October white paper from the Center for Renewing America, an increasingly influential think tank staffed largely by Trumpist wonks, MAGA loyalists, and veterans of his administration.

The policy paper — titled “It’s Time to Wage War on Transnational Drug Cartels” — outlines possible justifications and procedures for the next Republican commander-in-chief to “formally” declare “war against the cartels,” in response to “the mounting bodies of dead Americans from fentanyl poisonings.”

In a nod to Mexico’s status as a sovereign nation, the paper calls on the U.S. to “conduct specific military operations to destroy the cartels and enlist the Mexican government in joint operations to target cartel-networked infrastructure, including affiliated factions and enablers with direct action.”

However, that “enlistment” of the Mexican government comes with a massive caveat: “It is vital that Mexico not be led to believe that they have veto power to prevent the US from taking the actions necessary to secure its borders and people,” the paper reads.

...

 The “scoffing” referenced by Wolf and Law refers to the public shock when former defense secretary Mark Esper revealed that Trump had previously asked if it was possible to carry out unilateral covert airstrikes on Mexican drug labs in 2019.

At the time, Trump had become increasingly frustrated by the incessant opiate trade across the Mexican border and publicly suggested that the U.S. designate cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. In private, Esper wrote, Trump said, “‘If we could just knock them [the drug labs] out,’ he said, this would do the trick.” Told it would be illegal, Trump reportedly claimed “no one would know it was us” although Esper “couldn’t imagine the president would resist taking credit for the attack anyway.” 

...

“It is hard to imagine a worse idea than attempting unilateral use of US military force across our southern border without Mexico’s very specific permission and full cooperation, which is highly unlikely for a wide variety of historical, cultural, and political reasons,” says retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, who served as commander of U.S. Southern Command and European Command. “Given US military history over the past couple of centuries — with multiple invasions of nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, from Mexico to Panama to Nicaragua to Haiti — there are old ghosts that will be energized against US policy by unilateral military action, especially in Mexico.”

[BG-NY]

Based.

[It’s so Joever]

I endorse this.

[Ferguson97]

This man is such a moron, how are more people not embarrassed to support him lmao

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

"This trans thing isn't working out so great, who can we hate instead?"

To be fair to Donald, drug cartels are a much better hobgoblin than trans teens. No wonder he stole the GOP's store of hateful fools so totally.

[ProudModerate2]

What an Orange Buffoon.

[Nutmeg]

Actually not entirely opposed to this. AMLO is doing very little to address the growing synthetic opioid production in Mexico, which largely has supplanted China as the origin of this cause of death for a growing number of Americans. Asking nicely hasn't worked. Offering financial incentives hasn't worked. He apparently only responds to the application of force. Even if he wanted to--and he has demonstrated that he doesn't--he couldn't rid his country of the cartels, which increasingly have the upper hand. Perhaps Mexico would be better off over the longer term if the U.S. did step in to fight the cartels.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

Bombing drug cartels on Mexican territory means a war with Mexico itself, and yall are f***ing deranged if you think that is a good idea.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

AMLO is gone next year anyway. Just bribe his successor (probably Sheinbaum Pardo at this point) to do more.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

AMLO is gone next year anyway. Just bribe his successor (probably Sheinbaum Pardo at this point) to do more.

Mexican politics always fascinates me, because it's one of the few where I genuinely think I would vote for the more conservative party/coalition somewhat often.

[Vice President Christian Man]

The Iran Contra vibes I'm getting from this is overwhelming and without the support of the Mexican government this can lead to a full out war.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/NoahShachtman/status/1641231806010740738

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

I hope he runs on this in the GE, and people realize how terrible sending troops to Mexico without the country's consent is.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Trump is trying to be the 21st century James K. Polk.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

LoL he isn't getting second term MI and PA have D State Legislatures and so does NV and WI and AZ have D Govs and VA and GA have 2 D S each that's 303

He is in deep denial and think blue state voters are gonna forget J6 yeah red states voters not blue states but we haven't had an Eday and Desantis won't be Nominated so red states can vote D too based on J6 which Trump won't be able to use Hunter Laptop

J6 most of Insurrection came from red states not blue states like AR

Biden doesn't have to have Stella approvals to win blue states he does if he wants to win red states

Trump has a 38/54 Approvals in like Blue states and Biden has a 47/51 that's why the Approvals are off they are combining the red states number with blue state Biden has close to 50 percent in blue states, Gallup has Biden at 40/58 and Rassy 47/51 yeah the discrepancy is blue state v red states

So, when blue avatars keep looking at Biden low Approvals it's the red states number not blue states Biden isn't at 40/58 in blue states he is at 47/51

We still have a chance in FL, OH, MT and MO S

[SnowLabrador]

Never let anyone tell you this can't happen. The alarmists have been right more often than they have been wrong.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Is President Trump gonna build the wall before he invades or after he invades?

There is a financial benefit to invading to make the border shorter and save costs on building the wall.

Maybe just have two walls with a DMZ in between. If you have two walls, then the Mexicans will need 4 ladders making it twice as hard to get into the country.

Who's paying for the Wall?

https://youtu.be/QKIoqBYQzvc

I wonder if Americans will go for Trump's anti-woke, anti-immigrant rhetoric this time around.

There is an underlying problem with illegal immigration into the US (250,000 entries per month) and the Democrats could blunt Trump's argument if they simply recognise the primary problem and agree to fix it.

That then takes the sharpness out of Trump's pencil.

[Orwell]

Good we’d kick the ever living sh**t outta Mexico

[Crumpets]

Just for fun, here's a relevant throwback thread from 7 years ago: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=232132.msg4971991

[Sir Mohamed]

Perhaps you should add "drug cartels", though it's not going to happen.

[Yoda]

This is, quite simply, where trump's lizard brain was always going to go next. When he saw that he could get away scot-free from launching an attack on his own country, there's gonna be zero reservations in his mind about attacking freaking Mexico.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

While the idea itself is excerable, it makes a degree of sense from  the perspective of Trump as a candidate. It gives him a target to direct hate against that is virtually impossible to defend (drug cartels) and, if he chooses, it gives him a tool to present himself as a moderate candidate focused on real issues. (Please note I'm  not saying that is actually true, just how Trump could leverage this in the primaries and beyond.)

I.e. "DeSanctimonious wants to take away your kids, while he's done nothing about the airplanes full of drugs killing our youth, done nothing about the murderers on our streets. I don't hate anyone, but I want Americans, and Americas' children, to be safe from the Death coming across our Border. I built a great Wall to protect us, but Open Borders Biden didn't maintain it. These drug cartels have grown so powerful, so deadly,  we need to take the fight to them. I will fight to protect America, while TinyD fights with Disney, and loses, because they hurt his feelings."

[BG-NY]

If they don’t try and enter the US, they won’t face any issues. Seems fine to me.

[DrScholl]

This is why the people saying "Trump is the only President not to start a war" are stupid. He just didn't get a chance to do that. His temperament is not stable enough for him to be non-aggressive.

[Sirius_]

This could very well be the nail in his coffin. Nearly everyone still remembers Iraq and Afghanistan, Trump himself was a major critic of military intervention. If he pushes on this it could even turn Afghanistan into a net positive for Biden. If he doesn't drop this soon it will be a massive blunder.