A message from Donald Trump The celebration of the 19th century US invasion of its southern neighbor – and the subsequent loss of more than half of its territory – has touched a historical nerve in Mexico, with it being seen as a hidden threat for future invasions.
Reacting to the US president’s statement, which described the invasion as “a legendary victory”, Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico, said in her morning news conference on Tuesday: “We must always defend our sovereignty.”
Others are less subtle in their criticism. “Never, in the recent annals of Mexico-US relations have we seen anything like this,” wrote former Mexican ambassador to the US Arturo Sarukhan, in X. “It’s not just spiking the ball in the end zone; it’s in your face F… You.”
The message, posted by the White House on Monday, said the US-Mexico war “restores American sovereignty, and extends the promise of American freedom to our noble continent”.
But the conflict has long been a historical sore spot for Mexico: After the capture of Mexico City by US troops in 1847, Mexico gave up 55% of its pre-war territory, including the current states of California, Nevada, Utah, most of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
Trump not only celebrated the war as “a triumphant victory for American sovereignty” but suggested that much of his Latin American policy “was guided by our victory in the fields of Mexico 178 years ago”, including efforts to protect “our southern border against invasion”.
The message comes as the Trump administration has grown increasingly hawkish on the continent, sending troops to Venezuela last month to arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and threatening military action. in Colombia and Cuba.
As far as Mexico, Trump has often proposed an invasion south of the border to deal with drug trafficking groups in the country, saying that after taking out several alleged drug vessels at sea, “we will now start hitting the ground, about the cartels.”
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected Trump’s offers to send troops to Mexico, but some saw the message to the White House as another veiled threat from Trump.
“He continues to see Mexico as a territory to be conquered, not as a partner,” writes columnist and political analyst Denise Dresser. in X. “He will continue to find ways to intervene.”
But Tony Payan, an expert on Mexico at Rice University in Texas, saw the statement as less of a threat and more of a slap to one of the US’s most important allies.
Mexico “is a country that has done nothing but cooperate with US interests at all levels”, he said. “And here, he rubs Mexico’s nose in a deep wound in Mexican history…
According to Payan, the statement also says a lot about how Trump wants his presidency to be remembered.
“He wanted to be a great president who expanded the American Empire,” he said. “It’s just 19th-century style imperialism.”