Why Trump Doesn’t Want to Solve the Drug Problem

Narcotrafficking as leverage in the U.S.–Mexico relationship

Trump wants the world to believe he has a simple foreign policy: identify a villain, apply pressure, force compliance, and claim victory. With Mexico, the villain is supposed to be “the cartels”—criminal organizations he routinely blames for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who consume fentanyl in the United States.

At first glance, the story seems straightforward. Cartels are violent, foreign, and easy to demonize. They operate south of the border, traffic drugs north, and offer a clean explanation for a complex crisis.

But the Mexican case quickly turns into a puzzle.