President-elect Donald Trump says that he had a “wonderful” conversation with Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and that Mexico will immediately “stop people from going to our Southern Border.”
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday Trump said: “Just had a wonderful conversation with the new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!”
In a follow-up post, the president-elect then added, “Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!”
Earlier this week Trump threatened higher tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Trump said he would impose a 10 percent tariff on China and a 25 percent tariff on Mexico and Canada as an attempt to curb drugs, specifically fentanyl, from coming into the country. He also called out Mexico and Canada for their “ridiculous” borders. This echoed vows he also made on the campaign trail.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., responded to Trump’s statement about the tariff saying, “No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump transition team via email for comment.
President-elect Donald Trump seen on November 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. Meanwhile, Trump said he spoke with Mexico’s president and that the country will stop people from going to the southern border. (Photo by Brandon…
Sheinbaum Pardo also posted about the conversation with Trump on X, formerly Twitter, saying in part, “I had an excellent conversation with President Donald Trump. We discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migration phenomenon and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico.” The post was translated via Google.
According to the Associated Press, per the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, both China and Mexico are the top two countries trafficking the most fentanyl and fentanyl-related products into the United States.
Trump said he also plans to make a nationwide fentanyl campaign to alert Americans “how bad Fentanyl is.” Trump added in his post on Truth Social that, “Millions of lives being so needlessly destroyed. By the time the Campaign is over, everyone will know how really bad the horror of this Drug is.”
According to recent data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were approximately 107,543 overdose deaths in 2023. This is down three percent from 2022, according to the CDC.
Update 11/27/2024 8:41 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.
