Former President Donald Trump warned that military airstrikes against Mexican drug cartels bringing fentanyl into the United States would “absolutely” be considered if the Mexican government did not intervene and police their own border under a potential second Trump administration.
Fox News host Jesse Watters asked the former president during a recent interview if strikes against the Mexican drug cartels were “still on the table.” The Daily Wire reported that the idea of launching strikes against the drug cartels was previously discussed by Republican candidates during the presidential primary season.
Trump told Watters that airstrikes against the drug cartels would “absolutely” be on the table under his administration. He added, “Mexico is going to have to straighten it out really fast, or the answer is absolutely. They’re killing 300,000 people a year with fentanyl coming in.”
Trump also criticized China for contributing to the fentanyl crisis facing the United States. He told Watters, “And China, by the way, will do what they have to do. They’re gonna do it just like I had to deal with President Xi, but then Biden never took it over.”
The former president explained that prior to President Joe Biden’s inauguration, China was planning on using the death penalty against anyone sending fentanyl into the United States. Trump claimed that while it was part of his negotiations with China, China never implemented the death penalty against people sending fentanyl to the United States because “nobody forced it on our side” under the Biden administration.
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“Death penalty for drug dealers, death penalty for people that send fentanyl into our country,” Trump added. “And that would have made a big difference. But you know what happened? Nothing, because when Biden came in, nothing happened. And I don’t know why he’s so soft on China, but boy is he soft on China.”
The former president told Watters that “almost 100%” of the fentanyl entering the United States comes from China and is sent to the U.S.-Mexico border before entering the country.
Trump said that if he is elected president again, Mexico will have a “very short period of time to police their border” before the United States takes action against the Mexican drug cartels.
Highlighting the devastation caused by illegal drugs flowing across the southern border, Trump said, “They’re killing 300,000 people, maybe more than that, and destroying families. Even if there’s no death, they’re destroying families.”
