President Donald Trump said on Monday that he’s open to green-lighting strikes inside of Mexico “to stop drugs” from crossing into the United States.

Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office about targeting “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean Sea, and said he would be “okay” with using that same strategy to take out out drug runners on land — even if they’re inside of Mexico.

“Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? That’s okay with me,” Trump said. “Whatever we have to do to stop drugs. I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there.”

Asked if he would seek Mexico’s permission before launching a strike on drug traffickers inside of the country, Trump said, “I wouldn’t answer that question.”

“I’ve been speaking to Mexico. They know how I stand,” Trump added. “We have lost hundreds of thousands of people to drugs, so now we’ve stopped the waterways. We know every route. We know the addresses of every drug lord. We know their address. We know their front door. We know everything about every one of them. They’re killing our people. That’s like a war.”

.@POTUS: “We have lost hundreds of thousands of people a year… and much of it comes through Mexico. So, let me just put it this way — I am NOT happy with Mexico.” pic.twitter.com/MzvJreOuEM

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 17, 2025

The president said he would be “proud” to conduct land strikes on drug cartels, adding that he would “probably” go to Congress before striking inside of a foreign country. Trump also discussed potentially hitting “cocaine factories” inside of Colombia.

The Trump administration has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans for taking out suspected drug runners in international waters without congressional authorization. Trump has ordered 11 strikes in the Caribbean Sea in the past two months, killing over 80 suspected drug traffickers.

The Trump administration says that at least 85% of drug trafficking through waterways has been stopped following the “narco-terrorist” strikes, but most illegal drugs are snuck into the United States on land, coming in through ports of entry. Most fentanyl trafficked into the United States comes from Mexico or China and is driven across the U.S. southern border in passenger vehicles, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Mexico has said that it would not approve of U.S. military operations on its soil.

“We reject any form of intervention or interference. That’s been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in April.

NBC News reported earlier this month that the Trump administration is considering deploying troops to Mexico to target drug cartels with drones. Six Mexican cartels were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the State Department just weeks after Trump was sworn in for his second term.

An alleged illegal immigrant terrorist was working as a truck driver in the United States using a Pennsylvania-issued commercial driver’s license, the Department of Homeland Security revealed Monday.

Local authorities pulled over Uzbek national Akhror Bozorov, 31, on Nov. 9 when it was discovered that he had an Interpol warrant for allegedly distributing terrorist propaganda calling for jihad online and recruiting fellow terrorists, federal law enforcement sources told The Daily Wire. Immigration and Customs Enforcement later took him into custody.

Bozorov crossed the California border illegally in 2023 and was swiftly released into the country when the Biden administration was pushing Border Patrol to move people out of custody as quickly as possible. His warrant was issued the year before he came to the United States, but border agents didn’t find any such red flags because they didn’t have enough time to properly vet him, sources said.

“Not only was Akhror Bozorov — a wanted terrorist — RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. This should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should not be operating 18-wheelers on America’s highways,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Monday statement.

“Biden and Mayorkas allowed countless terrorists to come into our country. President Trump and Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target these national security threats,” she added.

Under the Biden administration, ISIS-tied smuggling networks helped hundreds of illegal immigrants from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries cross into the United States, CNN previously reported.

In 2024, the Biden administration handed Bozorov a work permit, which likely opened the door for his trucking license.

The Trump administration recently commenced a crackdown on states issuing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, with the worst offender being California, after a series of fatal collisions.

Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons recently issued a dire warning that the issue has increased the potential for a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

“We don’t know what they’re carrying across state lines in an 18-wheeler, terrorists will stop at nothing to harm the United States, and it is well within the realm of possibility that some of these trucks … could be carrying toxic chemicals, bombs, or God knows what,” Lyons said.