Mexican Journalist Contradicts Sheinbaum, Claims Trump Admin Did Demand Prosecution Of High-Ranking Politicians Over Cartel Ties

A prominent Mexican journalist contradicted President Claudia Sheinbaum's claim that the Trump administration did not demand her administration pursue politicians with alleged cartel ties, saying that there are actually some concrete names that have been mentioned.

In a column published in El Universal, Carlos Loret de Mola said that Sinaloa Gov. Ruben Rocha Moya has apparently been mentioned as a top tier politician wanted by the U.S. He added that in the "Top 3" there is also another governor and an army general.

Loret de Mola expanded on previous reporting from The Wall Street Journal, which noted that high-ranking Mexican officials have held meetings to discuss demands from Donald Trump following the capture of Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.

Sheinbaum rejected the WSJ's report during her daily press conference, saying the outlet's claims "have nothing to do with what was discussed in the phone call" between her and Trump.

"Such an issue has never been raised. There is no case where they told us 'we have proof of this, we have a warrant,'" she added.

The phone call took place on Monday, and came after President Donald Trump's threat to "start hitting land with regards to the cartels" in the neighboring country.

"We have a very good conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump. We discussed different topics, including security with regards to our sovereignties, the decrease in drug-trafficking, trade and investment. Collaboration and cooperation in a context of mutual respect always yield results," Sheinbaum said in a social media publication.

However, a recent report from The New York Times noted that Mexican officials have grown increasingly alarmed about potentially having its territory targeted by the U.S. following the operation that ended with the capture of Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.

An official told the outlet that the operation made them think "oh boy, this is more serious than we thought, and we are on the list of who could be next, and worse, we have been warned."

Elsewhere in the report, officials noted that they have had to rethink their criticism of the U.S. operation that captured Maduro due to the possibility that it could help trigger Trump.