Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has categorically dismissed US President Donald Trump's suggestion that American forces could conduct military operations on Mexican territory to combat drug cartels.

"It's not going to happen," Sheinbaum stated during her morning press conference on November 18, responding to Trump's remarks from the previous day when he signalled openness to authorising strikes inside Mexico.

The Mexican leader explained she had clarified her position "many times" in telephone conversations with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "He has suggested on several occasions or has said, 'We offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico or whatever you need to combat criminal groups,'" she recounted.

Whilst accepting collaboration and intelligence-sharing with US military forces, Sheinbaum reiterated her firm stance against foreign intervention. "We do not accept an intervention by any foreign government," she continued. "I've told him on the phone. I've said it with the State Department, with Marco Rubio."

Trump made his comments during an Oval Office meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on November 17, addressing his expanding military campaign against drug cartels and criminal networks in Latin America. When asked if he was considering "potentially launching strikes in Mexico", Trump answered affirmatively.

"To stop drugs? It's OK with me. Whatever we have to do to stop drugs," he said. "I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. This is some big problems over there."

Trump referenced the US bombing campaign that began on September 2, with at least 21 deadly missile strikes conducted against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing 83 people. UN officials and legal experts have denounced the military campaign as illegal extrajudicial killing.

Trump suggested the campaign, so far focused on Venezuela, could eventually include strikes on land-based targets in Mexico. "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 any more," Trump continued. "Would I do that on the land corridors? I would absolutely. Look, every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives, not to mention the destruction of families."

However, there is no factual basis for that figure. Provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows fatal drug overdoses have declined in recent years, with 73,960 deaths recorded during the 12-month period ending in April.

The Trump administration has provided no definitive evidence proving who was aboard the bombed vessels or that they were linked to drug trafficking. Victims' identities remain largely unknown, though families in Venezuela, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago have asserted their loved ones disappeared after the attacks, with some claiming their relatives were merely fishermen.

Trump declined to say whether he would seek permission before striking Mexico. "I wouldn't answer that question," he told a reporter. "I've been speaking to Mexico. They know how I stand." He later added, "Let me just put it this way. I am not happy with Mexico."

Since taking office for a second term, Trump has claimed extraordinary powers to justify increasingly aggressive actions against drug cartels, asserting the US is in a state of war with traffickers. Though only Congress can formally declare war, Trump reportedly signed a secret order in August allowing military action against cartels.

On October 2, Trump issued a memo to Congress asserting Latin American cartels were "enemy combatants" in a "non-international armed conflict", laying out his administration's legal argument for ongoing attacks. He has also categorised various cartels as "foreign terrorist organisations", though that designation alone doesn't justify military action under international and domestic law.

In a bid to defuse tensions, the US Embassy in Mexico shared a video on X on November 17 featuring previous comments from Rubio saying the US would not take unilateral action in Mexico.

The next day, Sheinbaum echoed her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador in denying any US intervention was on the table. "There is collaboration, and there is coordination," she replied. "But there is no subordination, nor can we allow an intervention."