DeSantis suggests he would use drone strikes against drug cartels

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (Fla.) said he would use “whatever force we need to” to take down Mexican drug cartels if elected president, with or without help from the Mexican government. 

The remarks came after a question at a Thursday campaign event in Iowa where he was asked if drone strikes on Mexican soil were on the table.

“We will lean in against the drug cartels. We will absolutely reserve the right. If they’re invading our country and killing our people, we have the right to defend this country,” DeSantis said.

“We have the right to hold them accountable, and it’s not just if they happen to come over our border. If Mexico is not going to help us with that, well then we’re going to have to do what we have to do,” he continued.

The comments represent a growing group of Republicans calling for military intervention in Mexico, as the southern border remains one of the 2024 presidential campaign’s biggest talking points.

Former President Trump reportedly previously asked his defense secretary about missile strikes in Mexico and has since requested “battle plans” into the country should he be reelected, Rolling Stone reported.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) are also among those who have signaled support for military action in Mexico, which Mexican officials have pushed back on.

DeSantis said the cartels are “killing tens of thousands of Americans” every year and they are like a “foreign terrorist organization.”

About 200 Americans die every year in Mexico, according to State Department data. In 2021, 74 were classified as homicides. The State Department has provided travel warnings for violence in regions of Mexico where cartel activity is most prevalent.

DeSantis may be attributing U.S. overdose deaths to the cartels, which are responsible for the trafficking of some fentanyl and other deadly opioids. Just more than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2021.

He said the Mexican government has not done enough to fight the cartels.

“The Mexican government is not doing what they need to do to help with this, but we said from day one of our border announcement we’d be willing to lean in against them, and we reserve the right to defend the country,” he said.

DeSantis has been in conflict with the Mexican government in recent months over his state’s immigration policy and treatment of migrants. 

Mexican officials threatened to seek legal recourse against DeSantis in June after he sent hundreds of migrants from Florida across the country without each migrant’s full knowledge or consent.

DeSantis is in Iowa for a Saturday appearance at the State Fair, which comes as his campaign recovers from a staff shakeup stemming from dwindling voter support that included replacing his campaign manager.

DeSantis has received about 14 percent support in recent national polling averages, placing him in second place in the GOP primary behind Trump.