‘Damn Right’ Trump Will Take On ‘Paramilitary’ Mexican Drug Cartels, Says Mike Waltz: ‘The American People Expect It’
Incoming National Security Adviser Rep. Mike Waltz said Sunday that, as president, Donald Trump is going to “take on” the drug cartels operating in Mexico, and that it’s what the American people want and expect him to do.
Waltz appeared on the latest Face the Nation from CBS News on Sunday morning and spoke with host Margaret Brennan about several national security issues, including the TikTok ban and Trump’s extension of the deadline, the ceasefire deal between Israel and terror group Hamas, and of course immigration and the southern border.
As he was describing agenda items and what’s to come in Trump’s first few weeks in office, including executive orders, Waltz said that Trump has a “clear mandate” on the border to lock it down, deport criminal illegal immigrants, and to “take on the cartels.”
“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,” Waltz said.
Brennan asked if he was saying that Trump will declare cartels “terrorist groups,” and Waltz replied that he didn’t want to get ahead of any announcements but that “we have to deal with them, with what they are.”
After the show, Politico posted on X about his comments on taking on the cartels, and Waltz reshared their post with his own comments.
Damn right. The American people expect it. https://t.co/2rxym1bVlF
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) January 19, 2025
“Damn right,” Waltz wrote in response to the headline of the article. “The American people expect it.”
WALTZ: I can’t emphasize enough though, Margaret, on the border, the American people gave him a clear mandate, lock down our border, deport the worst of the worst, take on the cartels. 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.
BRENNAN: You’re talking about perhaps an executive order designating cartels as a terrorist group or designating in some way?
WALTZ: I don’t want to get ahead of the announcements.
BRENNAN: OK.
WALTZ: But we have to – we have to deal with them, with what they are.
BRENNAN: OK.
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.
BRENNAN: Yes.
WALTZ: And then we’re going to use every resource that we need to defend the American people.
Watch the clip above via CBS News.
