“We’ll start hitting”: Trump threatens Mexico after capturing Venezuelan president

United States President Donald Trump has indicated that his administration is preparing to expand military operations against drug cartels to include land-based strikes, following recent maritime attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Speaking during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Trump said the United States would begin targeting cartel infrastructure on land.

“We are going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels,” he said, adding that criminal groups have gained extensive control in Mexico.

The comments come in the aftermath of the surprise capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last weekend, an operation that followed months of sustained U.S. military and economic pressure on Caracas.

As part of the broader campaign, U.S. forces have reportedly carried out more than 100 strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels since September.

Trump also disclosed that American forces had conducted a land strike on a docking facility in Venezuela allegedly used by drug traffickers.

Any decision to extend similar operations into Mexico would represent a major escalation of U.S. military involvement in the region.

The interim left-leaning government in Caracas has condemned the U.S. strikes, warning that they pose a threat to regional stability.

Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back against Washington’s rhetoric, stating that the Americas “do not belong” to any single power.

On Sunday, Trump said he had urged Sheinbaum to allow the deployment of U.S. troops to help combat drug cartels in Mexico, an offer he acknowledged had previously been rejected by the Mexican government.