‘Damn right’ Trump will take on drug cartels, new national security chief says

The president-elect’s incoming NSA had a message for Mexican cartels as crackdown promises already had foreign nationals “making arrangements.”

Already high expectations for the first hundred days of the incoming administration were further escalated for the initial week as mass deportations were set to be a priority upon President-elect Donald Trump’s White House return. Sunday during a media circuit, National Security Advisor designee Mike Waltz offered a simple message in response to reporting on his own comments regarding taking on the drug cartels.

“Damn right.”

That statement had followed the Florida congressman’s appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” where he was asked about expectations on executive actions.

“We cannot have a situation where we have paramilitary gangs that are shooting down aircraft with heavy weapons, controlling 30 percent of our neighbor Mexico and controlling whole swathes of our border,” he told host Margaret Brennan who went on to press if Trump would use the “terrorist group” designation on cartels.

“You’re talking about perhaps an executive order designating cartels as a terrorist group or designating in some way?” she posited.

“I don’t want to get ahead of the announcements. But we have to — we have to deal with them, with what they are,” responded Waltz. “These are — these are paramilitary organizations with billions at their disposal, with armored vehicles, heavy machine guns that are fighting the Mexican army, not police, army, to a standstill.”

“President Trump was clear on the campaign trail that we’re going to take them on,” he added.

Those remarks were later picked up by Politico which reported, “Trump to take on Mexico’s drug cartels, Mike Waltz says.”

Reacting to that headline, the incoming NSA stated matter-of-factly, “Damn right. The American people expect it.”

Image via X

The American people weren’t the only ones expecting it as the New York Post spoke to a number of foreign nationals who were living off the U.S. taxpayer dime in the Big Apple expressing that they were looking for a way out ahead of crackdowns from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“It is better to leave before,” a 31-year-old Venezuelan national told the newspaper while outside a shelter in Queens. “I am making arrangements, somewhere else.”

Another alien who shared little personal information with the outlet said, “It’s in God’s hands, but there are people who have started leaving the hotels because they’re scared. When ICE came a few weeks ago they had an arrest warrant for someone who lived here.”

“Nothing they could do,” he added.

As a raid was said to be planned for Chicago on Trump’s first full day in office Tuesday, to which border czar designee Tom Homan had said in part, “if the Chicago mayor doesn’t want to help, he can step aside,” another alien had told the Post, “Some people think they will come in buses and load people up from the shelters, take them to the airport.”

According to city officials, the number of occupants in shelters had decreased from over 65,000 to less than 51,000 with larger facilities expected to begin shuttering.

Still, as a Columbian national said to the newspaper “raids at the hotel, that worries me…”I have a wife and two kids here. I try to keep my head down and get work done, but if something like a raid happens, I need to protect my family,” a Venezuelan national remained doubtful about what may come.

“Trump won’t send people back who are here to work and make an honest living. Only the people who are causing problems or relying on the government,” he argued to the Post.

The expected shift in handling the border crisis came not only after four years of the Biden-Harris administration overseeing the entry of millions of illegal aliens, but also as the construction of a secret tunnel had been uncovered at the border between Mexico and Arizona.

A joint investigation between U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Sonora State Police had uncovered the “narco tunnel” leading Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Joseph Humire to voice hope about what may come in cooperation between the neighboring governments.

“What happens is when you want to get to strategic issues or you want to get to very high level against the Mexican cartels that collaborations tend to break down, particularly under most recent government, but there’s a new government in Mexico there’s a new president of the United States so I’m hoping that cooperation could enhance,” he told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

In the weeks leading to his return, Trump had threatened neighboring nations with a 25% tariff on all goods if they did not do their part to get the border crisis in check.

Kevin Haggerty

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles