Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he was open to authorizing cross-border action to curb drug flows from Mexico.
He said he had spoken with Mexican officials about the idea and that they “know how I stand.”
“We’re losing hundreds of thousands of people to drugs,” he said. “So now we’ve stopped the waterways, but we know every route.”
Trump did not specify when or how any operation would occur.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously rejected the possibility of US strikes on Mexican territory.
Jeff Garmany, associate professor of Latin American studies at the University of Melbourne, told Al Jazeera that legal and diplomatic barriers exist but may not deter Trump.
“There are several legal hurdles standing in the way,” he said. “But nothing about Trump’s second presidency suggests he would adhere to these laws and protocols. So, no, I’d be surprised if Trump would wait for President Sheinbaum’s sign-off if he really wants to carry out strikes in Mexico.”
Trump’s comments follow an NBC report, citing two US officials, that the White House had begun early planning for a joint ground operation in Mexico with US intelligence agencies.
The reported plan focused on drone strikes against drug laboratories and cartel targets.
At the White House on Monday, Trump said the United States had already identified potential targets.
“We know every route. We know the addresses of every drug lord,” he said. “We know their address. We know their front door.”
He described the drug crisis as “like a war,” saying cartels were killing Americans through cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and fentanyl.
Garmany said any US strike campaign inside Mexico would likely achieve little given the power of the cartels.
He noted Mexico’s two-decade-long conflict with criminal groups.
“Mexico’s cartels are some of the strongest and most organized criminal organizations in the world,” he said.
“Carrying out targeted military strikes would be more of a PR stunt than anything else. It won’t stop one of the world’s most lucrative illegal supply chains.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has relied on executive orders and legal interpretations to justify unilateral military action against cartels without congressional approval.
The White House designated six drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” allowing military strikes under national-security authorities.
Since September, the administration has carried out at least 20 strikes on boats it said were transporting drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific.
At least 80 people have been killed, though the government has not publicly shown evidence linking those vessels to groups such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
The administration has described the campaign as a “non-international armed conflict” against “narcoterrorists” and “unlawful combatants,” echoing legal frameworks used during former president George W. Bush’s “war on terror.”