White House official explains Trump was being 'lighthearted' when he threatened to send U.S. troops down to Mexico

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A White House official insisted Thursday that President Trump was just being "lighthearted" when he threatened to send U.S. troops to Mexico to deal with the "bad hombres down there," during his phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. "I think your military is scared. Our military isn't, so I just might send them down to take care of it," Trump reportedly said on the call last Friday. The official told The Associated Press that comment was simply "part of a discussion about how the United States and Mexico could work collaboratively to combat drug cartels and other criminal elements."

A spokesman for Mexico's presidential office said the conversation was respectful, and denied that Trump threatened military intervention. "It is absolutely false that the president of the United States threatened to send troops to Mexico," the spokesman said. Separately, the Mexican Foreign Relations Department told The Associated Press that the "tone [of the call] was constructive."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us