Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, has ruled out that the Donald Trump administration will send military forces to Mexico or take “unilateral actions” as part of the war on drug trafficking. Likewise, the main foreign policy officer of the neighboring northern country underlined that the cooperation between the two countries against organized crime is “historic”. Rubio spoke to the media this Thursday morning at the John C. Munro Airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Secretary of State participated in the meeting of the G7 Foreign Ministers, where he referred to the situation in Mexico regarding the escalation of violence in the State of Michoacán, where the assassination of the former municipal president of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, has called into question the security policy of the Government of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
“We are willing to give them all the help they need. Obviously they don’t want us to intervene. We will not take unilateral measures or send US forces into Mexico. But we can help them with equipment, training and intelligence sharing, if they ask us. If they want help, they have to ask for it,” Rubio said.
Marco Rubio on the posters:
They have more weapons, better training, better intelligence and more capabilities than nation states.
In Mexico there are areas managed and governed by these cartels, more powerful than local law enforcement or even national forces. pic.twitter.com/gowrzZPVkX
— Intel open source (@Osint613) November 13, 2025
The Secretary of State’s statements attempt to ignore information released last week. According to the NBC network, Donald Trump’s government is preparing a new mission to send troops to Mexico. Four current and former US officials assured that the first phases of training for ground operations within Mexican borders “have already begun,” although “deployment is not imminent.” It was also said that the Republican administration is still discussing what the scope of that mission might be and has not made “the final decision,” according to this outlet. On more than one occasion, Sheinbaum has refused, both publicly and privately with Trump and his team, that the country would allow this type of intervention.
Despite this, Rubio strengthened the speech of the Republican magnate and assured that the cartels in Mexico have power comparable and even superior to that of some state institutions and even the federal government. “There are areas of Mexico that, frankly, are controlled by these cartels. They are very powerful. And the fact that they are not motivated by an ideology does not mean that they are not terrorists. You don’t have to be ideological to be a terrorist,” he warned.
Despite the challenges and frictions both governments have faced since Trump’s new term, Rubio stressed that the collaboration between the United States and Mexico on security and combating drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl, is stronger than ever. “We have a great relationship with Mexico. Incredible progress has been made in the first 10 months of this year. We cannot complain about the cooperative effort. The work we are doing together is historic,” he assured.
Despite this, Rubio acknowledged that Mexico’s problem of violence and drug trafficking will not be eradicated overnight and that it will take years for lasting progress to materialize. “We are dealing with something that has been around for decades. It will take time to see tangible progress, although in some cases we are already making it,” he said.
