Border Czar Homan Is ‘Shocked’ Mexico Won’t ‘Consider US Help’ to Combat Cartels  

The president of Mexico has turned down an offer from President Donald Trump to send U.S. troops to Mexico to aid in combating the criminal cartels, a move that border czar Tom Homan says “shocked” him.

“Taking out these cartels would make Mexico much safer for their citizens and tourists,” Homan told The Daily Signal. “I would think Mexico would support that, and I am shocked that they would not consider U.S. help.” 

Speaking aboard Air Force One over the weekend, Trump confirmed that he offered to send U.S. troops to Mexico to combat the cartels, but Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum declined the offer.   

Speaking in Mexico City recently, Sheinbaum said she told Trump “no” when he offered to send troops to Mexico, adding, “Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.”  

Sheinbaum is “a lovely women,” Trump said Sunday, “but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can’t even think straight.”   

Trump has labeled some criminal cartel gangs, such as Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations.

“Cartels have murdered countless Mexican journalists, reporters, prosecutors, judges, soldiers, police, and politicians. They have forced many into corruption on threats of death,” according to Homan, who has dedicated about 40 years of his career to border security, as a Border Patrol agent, then working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and now as Trump’s border czar.  

Mexico is consistently classified as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, largely because of cartel and gang violence. The group reports that five journalists were killed in Mexico in 2024. CBS News reports that at least three news media professionals have been killed in Mexico since the start of 2025.  

Near the end of 2024, The Associated Press reports that three police officers in Mexico and four drug cartel suspects died in a “running series of shootouts.”  

“They’re terrorist organizations, and we need to treat them like terrorist organizations,” Homan said of the cartels while speaking to press outside the White House on Monday.