Trump created a bargaining chip with the tarrifs, he then asks for something in return. This move by MX creates the impression that Trump is strong, that he’s right about the border, that he’s been right that MX wasn’t trying hard enough, and that MX respects Trump’s tough stance to help clean up the border. All wins for Trump’s optics. Nothing material has changed.
We already had like 35,000 national guards stationed at the border.
Yeah, it makes Trump look strong and us look weak.
But also… as part of the agreement Trump said they would focus their efforts on stopping the arms trade to the cartels. I don’t think they’ve ever framed themselves to be part of the problem before. This may have been a slip-up by trump, because:
The republican party is so full of contradictions I don’t think they can ever do meaningful structural change like stopping the illegal arms trade altogether.
On one side, they have their military industrial complex getting billions of dollars on blood money profits, and on the other they need to handle their internal health crises. And, If our government (Mexico) wanted to destroy the cartels, having your enemies armed better than our own forces make this a task of monumental proportions.
Trump created a bargaining chip with the tarrifs, he then asks for something in return. This move by MX creates the impression that Trump is strong, that he’s right about the border, that he’s been right that MX wasn’t trying hard enough, and that MX respects Trump’s tough stance to help clean up the border. All wins for Trump’s optics. Nothing material has changed.
We already had like 35,000 national guards stationed at the border. Yeah, it makes Trump look strong and us look weak.
But also… as part of the agreement Trump said they would focus their efforts on stopping the arms trade to the cartels. I don’t think they’ve ever framed themselves to be part of the problem before. This may have been a slip-up by trump, because:
The republican party is so full of contradictions I don’t think they can ever do meaningful structural change like stopping the illegal arms trade altogether.
On one side, they have their military industrial complex getting billions of dollars on blood money profits, and on the other they need to handle their internal health crises. And, If our government (Mexico) wanted to destroy the cartels, having your enemies armed better than our own forces make this a task of monumental proportions.