U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he meets with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on November 17, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (November 17, 2025) he supports taking aggressive action against drug cartels and narcotics production in Mexico and Colombia but stopped short of announcing any direct U.S. military intervention.
Mr. Trump has intensified his campaign against maritime drug trafficking, authorising more forceful interdiction operations and giving U.S. forces expanded authority to disable or sink vessels suspected of carrying narcotics.
Asked at an event in the Oval Office whether he backed similar ground strikes in Mexico to stem drug trafficking, Mr. Trump said: “OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs.” He later raised the prospect of targeting cocaine laboratories in Colombia.
“Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it personally,” Mr. Trump said. “I didn’t say I’m doing it, but I would be proud to do it because we’re going to save millions of lives.”
Published – November 18, 2025 03:20 am IST
