President Trump has just dropped one of the most explosive national-security statements in years:

After claiming 97% of maritime drug routes have been shut down, he says the U.S. will now “start hitting land” to confront the cartels — declaring that “the cartels are running Mexico.”

This is not rhetoric about borders or visas.

This is the language of counter-insurgency.

Trump is framing the cartels not as criminals, but as a hostile force — one that:

• controls territory
• moves weapons
• destabilizes a neighboring state
• and kills Americans by the hundreds of thousands through narcotics

In Washington terms, that’s not crime.
That’s a national security threat.

If this line holds, everything changes:
Diplomacy.
Border policy.
Military posture.

The U.S.–Mexico relationship itself.

We are watching the moment where the War on Drugs is being redefined as something far more dangerous — and far more consequential.

This is no longer about stopping smugglers.
It’s about whether the United States is prepared to confront a parallel power operating next door.

https://x.com/JimFergusonUK/status/2010277371908088065