U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Photo: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

By KELIN DILLON

On Tuesday, Jan. 8, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump claimed that Mexico is “essentially run by cartels.”

“It’s essentially run by the cartels; we can’t let that happen; Mexico is really in trouble, a lot of trouble, a dangerous place,” said Trump at the time.

The president-elect also reiterated his previous opinions that the Mexican government is not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl and migrants into the United States – two of his main justifications for the high tariffs he’s proposed to levy on Mexico once in office.

The soon-to-be-inaugurated federal executive also announced his intentions to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, despite the area being named in the 1600s before the United States was founded.

“The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name,” he continued.

For her part, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (CSP) refuted Trump’s points during her daily morning press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

“I think President Trump was misinformed; he was told that Felipe Calderón and García Luna govern, but no: In Mexico, the people govern,” said Sheinbaum, referring to the administration of former Mexican President Calderón and his notorious Secretary of Defense García Luna, who is currently imprisoned in the United States on drug trafficking charges.

CSP also responded to Trump’s suggestion to rename the Gulf of Mexico, saying, “Why don’t we call the United States Mexican America? It sounds nice.”

The Sheinbaum administration also noted that it had yet to receive a formal invitation to Trump’s inauguration, slated for Jan. 20. 

Still, CSP remained optimistic about her government’s future relationship with the incoming U.S. president, saying, “I still think there will be a good relationship with President Trump. What do I base this on? That there was a good relationship with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. We must wait; there will be a good relationship with Trump.”