Trump says Mexico will stop the flow of illegal immigrants

President-elect Trump said he spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and said she has agreed to “stop migration through Mexico and into the United States” after threats this week to significantly tariff goods from entering in the United States from its southern neighbor.

Trump promised to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada if both nations failed to do more to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. Sheinbaum, who recently took office, said Wednesday that Mexico would retaliate if Trump followed through on his promise.

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President Claudia Sheinbaum (left) President-elect Donald Trump (right.) (Getty Images)

“If there are US tariffs, Mexico will also raise tariffs,” she said during a news conference.

On Wednesday, Trump said he spoke with his Sheinbaum about the matter.

“Just had a wonderful conversation with Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo,” he wrote on Truth Social. “She has agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive influx of drugs into the United States, and also the United States’ consumption of those drugs. It was a very productive conversation!”

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Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and presidential candidate of the Morena party, during a campaign launch event in Mexico City, Mexico, Friday, March 1, 2024. Sheinbaum launched her campaign with a series of proposals to build the welfare programs that support the current president’s popularity, pitching himself as someone who would build on his legacy. (Victoria Razo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a subsequent post, he said that: “Mexico will stop people from going to our southern border effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!”

In a post on X, Sheinbaum said she spoke with Trump by phone and that the two discussed “strengthening cooperation on security issues” and that the conversation was “excellent,” Reuters reported.

Trump has long complained that Mexico has not done enough to stop the flow of migrants and illegal drugs on its side of the southern border.

In a post on X, Sheinbaum said she explained the “comprehensive strategy” Mexico has used to address “the phenomenon of migration, respecting human rights.”

“Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are helped before they reach the border,” she wrote. “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”

Trump also threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on China due to the huge amounts of fentanyl entering the US from Mexico.

US officials have often said that illegal fentanyl is manufactured in Mexico using Chinese predecessors and then smuggled across the border by drug cartels.

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Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and can be fatal in small doses, has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and is a factor in many drug overdose deaths.

On Wednesday, Trump said he would work on a large-scale ad campaign explaining the dangers of fentanyl.

“Millions of lives are being destroyed so needlessly. When the campaign is over, everyone will know how truly bad the horror of this drug is,” he said.

In response to the threat of more tariffs, the China Daily newspaper – run by the Chinese Communist Party – published an editorial on Tuesday saying: “The excuse the president-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is far out,” according to Reuters.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.