Defense Secretary Hegseth Doesn’t Rule Out Military Options Against Cartels

Last updated on February 1st, 2025 at 03:08 pm

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to rule out U.S. military actions inside Mexico to target transnational cartels.

In a Jan. 31 interview on Fox News, Hegseth took questions from some of his former colleagues at the news network for which he previously worked. Among the questions he faced were about what actions the U.S. military might take after President Donald Trump signed a day one executive order to begin designating cartels and other criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.

“If we find that they continue to fire at Border Patrol and they continue to put fentanyl into our country, as a secretary of defense, are you permitted now to go after them in Mexico or wherever they are?” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade asked.

Hegseth replied that how the United States responds will ultimately be up to the president, but said “all options will be on the table” to respond to cartel-related threats.

“Ultimately, we will hold nothing back to secure the American people,” Hegseth added.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has taken several steps to assert increased control over the U.S. southern border and to degrade the influence of transnational criminal organizations.

He specifically authorized the Secretary of State, the Treasury Secretary, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence to work together to determine whether cartel organizations should be added to the foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) lists.

Trump has also ordered new troop deployments to the U.S. southern border to assist existing federal border security missions as well as renewed border wall construction.

Trump’s efforts to close down the border and target the cartels could elicit backlash.

This week, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported its personnel responded to assist U.S. Border Patrol agents who came under fire from suspected cartel members. The exchange of fire began as the federal agents were patrolling near Fronton, Texas, along the U.S.-Mexico border on Jan. 27.

VIDEO: Earlier today, @TxDPS responded to assist the US Border Patrol after agents received gunfire from cartel members in Mexico while patrolling in Fronton, Starr County. DPS Drone Operators captured the gunmen fleeing Mexico due to military presence, & seeking refuge on an… pic.twitter.com/oPf5l7wltO

— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) January 28, 2025