Donald Trump Implies He’d Be ‘Proud’ to Bomb Mexico If It Stopped Drug Trafficking: ‘We’d Save Millions of Lives’

Donald Trump has indicated that he’d be open to bombing targets inside Mexico as part of his expanding effort to combat drug trafficking.

On Monday, Nov. 17, Trump, 79, told reporters that the idea of dropping bombs on Mexico to hit “corridors” allegedly used by drug traffickers to move narcotics into the United States was “okay with me.”

“Whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” he said. “Look, I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there. If we had to, would we do there what we’ve done to the waterways? You know, there’s almost no drugs coming into our waterways anymore.”

Trump was referring to a series of strikes he has ordered on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and East Pacific. Those operations, carried out without prior approval from Congress, have destroyed multiple boats and resulted in at least 37 deaths, according to reporting by CNN in October.

His decision to authorize the attacks has raised questions about whether he exceeded his authority, since the U.S. Constitution gives Congress — not the president — the power to declare war.

The family of at least one of those killed has also alleged that he was an innocent fisherman, according to CBS News.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump claimed that his actions had dramatically reduced the flow of illegal drugs into the United States by sea.

“We have almost no drugs coming into our country by the sea,” he said. “And you know why? Okay. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Would I do that on the land corridors? I would.”

Trump suggested he was familiar with “every one” of the routes traffickers allegedly use by land and that they were “under major surveillance.”

“We have nobody coming in through our southern border, but we know exactly how they get their things here, how they get the drugs here. Fentanyl, cocaine,” he said.

When asked if he would conduct such strikes only with Mexico’s permission, Trump replied that he “wouldn’t answer that question.”

He added that he has “been speaking to Mexico,” saying, “They know how I stand. We’re losing hundreds of thousands of people to drugs. So now we’ve stopped the waterways, but we know every route. We know every route. We know the address of every drug lord. We know their address. We know their front door. We know everything about every one of them. They’re killing our people.”

Calling the situation “like a war,” Trump said he would be “proud” to seek congressional backing for such operations.

“Would I do it? I’d be proud to. I’d probably go into Congress and say, ‘Hey.’ And you know what? The Democrats and the Republicans would both agree, unless they’re crazy,” he said. “And they are a little crazy on the Democrat side, but we have lost hundreds of thousands of people a year. Death… And that’s not talking about family destruction. It’s talking about death, and much of it comes through Mexico.”

He also suggested he would be “proud” to “knock out those factories” where cocaine is allegedly produced in Colombia.

“I would be proud to do it. Personally — I didn’t say I’m doing it — but I would be proud to do it because we’re going to save millions of lives by doing it,” he reiterated.

Discussing the earlier strikes in the Caribbean and East Pacific, Trump said, “Look, every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives.”

“Not to mention the destruction of families. These families are decimated forever. The mother, the father, the children, they never recover really from it. You know, when you lose somebody like the way they … The way they die is horrible.”

“So let me just put it this way. I am not happy with Mexico,” Trump concluded.

This is not the first time Trump has signaled a willingness to launch lethal operations against alleged drug traffickers abroad.

In October, he told reporters that he would carry out attacks and that he “may” inform Congress, adding, “I can’t imagine they would have any problem with it.”

“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be, like, dead,” he said at the time.

Elaborating on Trump’s recent comments about potential strikes on Mexico, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, “On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to take on the cartels — and he has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans.

“The President has left all options on the table to stop drugs from flooding into our country — just as he promised,” she added.