Trump Makes New Threat To Send Soldiers To US-Mexico Border
Apr 24, 2019, 9:09 AM | Updated: Jun 8, 2022, 5:10 pm
FILE: A man walks along the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier on April 2, 2019 in Tijuana, Mexico. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump made a new threat Wednesday to send armed soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump tweeted that “Mexico’s Soldiers recently pulled guns on our National Guard Soldiers, probably as a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers on the Border,” but he didn’t support the drug-smuggling claim.
He tweeted: “Better not happen again! We are now sending ARMED SOLDIERS to the Border. Mexico is not doing nearly enough in apprehending & returning!”
U.S. troops are already at the border to help reduce illegal crossings.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said Trump “is just making clear, as he always has, that he has many different actions at his disposal” to try to stop what the administration calls a humanitarian crisis at the border.
Mexico’s Soldiers recently pulled guns on our National Guard Soldiers, probably as a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers on the Border. Better not happen again! We are now sending ARMED SOLDIERS to the Border. Mexico is not doing nearly enough in apprehending & returning!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019
Asked if Trump will, in fact, send additional troops to the border, Conway replied: “He may.”
Two U.S. soldiers in a remote area of Texas recently were confronted by Mexican soldiers who thought the Americans had crossed into Mexico. The Mexican troops reportedly removed a weapon from one of the American soldiers.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised at a Wednesday news conference to investigate the border incident.
“We are going to analyze this incident, we are going to take account of what he (Trump) is indicating and will act in conformity with the law, within the framework of our sovereignty,” Obrador said.
He added: “We are not going to fight with the government of the United States. The most important thing is that we want a relationship of mutual respect and cooperation for development.”
Trump recently backed off his threat to seal the entire border , citing Mexican cooperation.
