Sheinbaum reassures Mexico after US military movements spark concern

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Sheinbaum reassures Mexico after US military movements spark concern

2026-01-20 03:02 Last Updated At：03:11

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum quelled concerns on Monday about two recent movements of the U.S. military in the vicinity of Mexico that have the country on edge since the attack on Venezuela.

On Friday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration urged U.S. aircraft operators to “exercise caution” when flying over the eastern Pacific Ocean near Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing “military activities.”

The president said her administration waited a couple hours until the U.S. government provided “written” assurance that there would not be any U.S. military flights over Mexican territory. She said the U.S. government had not given Mexico a heads up about any military operations.

The U.S. government provided precise coordinates for where it was operating and Mexican authorities issued a statement saying the FAA advisory had no implications for Mexico.

Then, images of a U.S. military transport airplane on the tarmac at Toluca’s airport about 39 miles (63 kilometers) west of Mexico City began circulating on social media.

Sen. Clemente Castañeda, of the opposition Citizen Movement party, posted on social platform X asking for an explanation from the government, because Mexico’s senate is supposed to approve sending Mexican troops abroad or allowing foreign troops into Mexico.

Sheinbaum described it as a “logistical” operation that did not require senate approval.

“The United States plane landed, public servants got on that plane and they went (to the U.S.) for training,” Sheinbaum said. “Who authorized this? The Secretary of Defense.”

Her security cabinet had posted on X Sunday night that such training operations “occur in conformity with established protocols and in adherence to the bilateral collaboration agreements.”

Both events highlighted the sensitivity created by not only the Trump administration’s unilateral action to capture Venezuela's then-President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, but the subsequent renewal of offers and threats to take direct military action against the drug cartels in Mexico.

Sheinbaum and Trump spoke again last week on the subject. Both governments continue to say they will collaborate on security issues, with Mexico emphasizing that it will not accept violations of its sovereignty.

Security officials from both countries are scheduled to meet again Friday in an effort to “continue delivering tangible actions to strengthen security cooperation and meaningful outcomes to counter cartels, and stop the illicit flow of fentanyl and weapons from crossing our shared border,” according to a joint statement released last Thursday.

Trump ties his stance on Greenland to not getting Nobel Peace Prize, European officials say

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” in a text message released on Monday.

Trump's message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

Those countries issued a forceful rebuke.

Many longtime allies of the U.S. remained resolute that Greenland was not for sale but encouraged Washington to discuss solutions. In a statement on social media, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc had “no interest to pick a fight” but would “hold our ground.”

The White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force. Asked whether Trump could invade Greenland, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said on Monday that “you can’t leave anything out until the president himself has decided to leave anything out.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. "I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said, adding that he did not believe military action would occur.

In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.

“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”

“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”

Trump’s Sunday message to Gahr Støre, released by the Norwegian government, read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace.”

It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.

“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.

“I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”

Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it, though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.

They are now looking at setting up a more permanent military presence to help guarantee security in the Arctic region, a key demand of the United States, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said Monday.

Jonson said that European members of NATO are currently “doing what’s called a reconnaissance tour in order to identify what kind of needs there are when it comes to infrastructure and exercises and so forth.”

In a statement on social media, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had discussed how important the region was for the "collective security" of the security alliance in a Monday meeting with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland.

Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President António Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.

Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Jill Lawless in London; Molly Quell in The Hague; Lorne Cook in Brussels and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.