Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends that military action against Mexican cartels were “on the table.”
Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked, “If we find that they continue to fire at Border Control 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 where they are?”
Hegseth responded, “Brian, I don’t want to get ahead of the president and I won’t. That’s ultimately going to be his decision. But let me be clear. All options will be on the table if we’re dealing with what are designated to be foreign terrorist organizations who are specifically targeting Americans on our border.”
He added, “We’re finally securing our border. We’ve been securing other people’s border for a very long time. The military is orienting, shifting toward an understanding of homeland defense on our sovereign territorial border. That is something we will do and do robustly. So we’re already doing it. Should there be other options necessary to prevent the cartels from continuing to pour people, gangs, drugs, and violence into our country — we will take that on. So the president will make that call. I’ll work with him in that decision-making process. Ultimately, we will hold nothing back to secure the American people.”
Hegseth’s comments reflect a growing concern over the role of Mexican cartels in fueling the fentanyl crisis and human trafficking at the southern border. Many Republican lawmakers and former Trump administration officials have called for a more aggressive approach to dismantling these criminal organizations.
While military action remains a controversial option, the pressure on the administration to take decisive steps against the cartels continues to build, particularly as border security remains a top concern for many Americans.
