President Trump responded Tuesday morning to the suspected Mexican cartel ambush on American families that left three women and six children dead, and eight more children injured, and multiple others kidnapped.
“A wonderful family and friends from Utah got caught between two vicious drug cartels, who were shooting at each other, with the result being many great American people killed, including young children, and some missing,” Trump said on Twitter.
….monsters, the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2019
“If Mexico needs or requests help in cleaning out these monsters, the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!” he continued.
“This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. We merely await a call from your great new president!” Trump added.
The victims were part of a motorcade of several families from a Mormon community in northwest Mexico approximately 75 miles from the U.S. border.
Some of the family members were on their way to Arizona for a shopping trip, while others were traveling to the Mexican state of Chihuahua see family members.
Julian LeBarón, a cousin of the three slain women, said one of the women was on her way to Phoenix to pick up her husband from the airport when her car broke down.
Three cars were hit by gunfire and one was set on fire.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called it “a lamentable situation” and announced plans to speak with Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Obrador said he hadn’t seen Trump’s tweets, but was certain the tweets were “in the spirit of cooperating… I am sure he has not been disrespectful. Every time we talk it is with that spirit of helping, which we appreciate very much,” according to NBC News.
However, Obrador called the war on drugs “irrational.”
“The worst thing is war … those who have lived war, suffered from war, know what that means… It is the opposite of politics, war is synonymous to irrationality, war is irrational,” he said.
