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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
Eric Trump, the son of United States President Donald Trump, spoke during the interview with Fox News about Washington’s national defense and security strategy in the face of foreign threats, but also issued his own threat against Mexico. Although the case was intended to exemplify what is happening in the Middle East and the role of the US, the statement has sparked controversy.
When asked by the interviewer if some foreign entity were to say, ‘Death to America’ and fire a rocket at the US, would the president react immediately, Eric Trump asserted, “Yes, rest assured.”
“If Mexico – let’s just say that’s the scenario — fired rockets at the United States, I think they’d be decapitated in about four seconds flat,” the president’s son added.
Mexico and the US were engaged in a fierce war from 1846 to 1848 that resulted in Mexico losing about half of its territory to its northern neighbor, including California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, western New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, and Wyoming, in addition to relinquishing all claims to Texas and recognizing the Rio Grande as the border.
Although that conflict occurred nearly two centuries ago, comparing the Iran-Israel war to a hypothetical scenario between Mexico and the US proved controversial, as Eric Trump was accused of racism. While Donald Trump has recently spoken in favor of peace in the Middle East and called for a truce between Tel Aviv and Tehran, his son’s remarks struck a markedly different tone, suggesting a domestic agenda may be behind them.
The Trump administration and its close team, including his son Eric, are pushing a narrative aimed at uniting their own country. This narrative is being created around migrants and—to a greater extent—against Latin Americans, which includes Mexicans. Within that narrative, it is natural that the Trump administration needs an identifiable enemy to blame for all the domestic problems and major events that threaten their political and ideological project.
In other words, there is a strategy to try to unify the US by identifying a common enemy.
Thus, the US expects complete alignment from Mexico. However, the Latin American country’s current government, led by Claudia Sheinbaum, is committed to a relationship of equals, not subordination.
Meanwhile, the US appears to continue pushing its narrative against its neighboring country and main trading partner by imposing tariffs and launching anti-migrant raids in Los Angeles, home to nearly four million Mexicans, among other things.
The possibility of the US sending troops to Mexico to fight various organized crime groups that are now recognized as terrorist organizations, an option that, according to the Mexican president herself, has been raised by Trump, is unlikely. The reason is that, despite their differences, the US and Mexico remain countries with a long-standing bilateral relationship and closely linked economies.
At the same time, the governments of both countries have not yet broken off negotiations or diplomatic channels, and they still converge on many of their positions.
During Trump’s first five months of his second term, migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border illegally have dropped significantly, with Border Patrol agents saying monthly encounters with migrants and asylum seekers dropped to fewer than 10,000, down from more than 100,000 one year ago during the Biden administration.
Nonetheless, Trump announced in a June 12 Truth Social post that he plans to change his administration’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigrants, the majority of whom are Mexican or entered from Mexico, to protect migrant farmers, hotel workers, and others in the hospitality and leisure industry.
“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump said on Truth Social.
He added that in many cases, “Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy” are applying for these jobs.
“This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”
However, Trump’s announcement came days after anti-immigrant operations were carried out on June 6 in California. According to local media reports, approximately 56 people were detained, while the Mexican Foreign Ministry stated that 42 were of Mexican origin. The operations caused confusion and outrage among the population, who took to the streets to protest immigration policy, many draped with Mexican flags. This prompted the federal government to order the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops after widespread riots occurred.
The Trump administration has promoted hate speech against migrants who do not conform to the idea of an ideal American. In this context, particularly with the ongoing riots and protests in Los Angeles, Eric Trump’s threat against Mexico was not just an example adjacent to the situation in the Middle East but intended to extend his father’s anti-Mexican rhetoric and policy.
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us zionist savages can’t got one day without threatening to kill someone or talking about killing people. they truly are spawns of satan.
to be fair, i think he was describing a hypothetical scenario. that said, a war with mexico would go very badly. the us could easily defeat their standing army, but occupation would be totally impossible and domestically the war effort would be difficult to sustain.
this family has a mental illness. they are so far from normal people that they think they are gods and can do anything. i can’t believe people in the usa do not rise up and revolt. if they think it is just other countries they are after, then they are in for a surprise. i hope they love fascism, because that is what they are going to have
it depends if the mexicans have a plan of their own. if mexicans get good at fpvs and they leverage their migrant presence in the us, no us air bases are safe
oh… so now mexico is the next “jihadi” for american control?… what… will we see be treated to another set of building($) collapsing symmetrically within their own footprint and near free fall accelerated speed in somewhere disneyland u.$.a.? hey eric, tell your old man he has a pretty full plate these last 11 years on russia’s “border”… and now iran. don’t think the u.$. economy needs anymore enemies.
didn’t the u.$. do this to japan as warning right before 3/11 when they were getting ready to de-peg the yen from the $us dollar??? looks like mexico is shopping for new “business associates” and rightfully so.
usa is putting the bean-eating apes in their place!
so you are kosher ape?
just finish the wall already.