The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson | A Message to Mexico’s President: Fix Your Country Before Criticizing Ours

Episode Date: July 30, 2025

Victor Davis Hanson breaks down how Mexico's trade practices, cartel complicity, and remittance dependence are fueling an asymmetrical relationship that benefits Mexico at America’s expense on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ Ms.  Sheinbaum, why don't you do the following? Why don't you say that Mexican nationals are your citizens? They're key to your economic growth. You don't want them to leave your country. You have a new revisionist reform plan that you're going to offer them social services so that they don't flee to the United States. You're going to keep your own people in your own country. “ The problem with Mexican-American relationships, as those polls reveal, is on your side. Don't run up surpluses by mercantile dealings with an existential enemy of the United States, China. Do not count on American taxpayers to subsidize your own citizens who entered illegally to send back 63 billion to your failing economy. And do not lecture us about the cartels—what we should and should not do about it—when you are enabling them to kill 70,000 Americans as a source of foreign exchange inside Mexico.” 👉 Brought to you by Freespoke.com, the search engine built to be unbiased.  Join the over 10,000 patriots who’ve upgraded to Freespoke Premium. Use promo code “ds25” for a limited-time special discount. Freespoke Premium includes: Unlimited, Unbiased AI — Search without the censorship Ad-Free, Fully Private Browsing Deep Dive Podcast Access Filter Out Media Bias Block Sites You Don’t Trust 📆 This offer is only valid during the month of July. [Join the Campaign Now →] https://freespoke.com/premium/subscribe?coupon=ds25 (0:00) Introduction to the Topic (1:07) Sheinbaum's Stance on U.S. Policies (1:50) Trade Imbalance (3:08) Fentanyl Crisis and Cartel Involvement (4:05) Remittances and Economic Impact (5:14) Solutions for Mexico (6:52) Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. I'd like to talk about illegal immigration, but specifically about the new president of Mexico, Claudia Scheinbaum. She's very, very intrusive in American politics. Ms. Scheinbaum, why don't you do the following? Why don't you say that Mexican nationals are your citizen? They're key to your economic growth. You don't want them to leave your country. Number two, you're going to forbid the importation at all cost of fentanyl into your country,

and you're going to go after the cartels and shut them down. Number three, you're going to call up President Trump, and you're going to say in three years there will be no surplus and no trade deficit on either side. We want to be good neighbors, and we want to be equitable. Why am I saying that? Because the problem with Mexican-American relationships, as those polls reveal, is on your side. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal. I'd like to talk about illegal immigration, but specifically about the new president. of Mexico, Claudia Scheinbaum. She's been very vocal about U.S. policy toward Mexico. For example,

she said she would offer legal counsel to her citizens that were here illegally that were picked up, she thought, unfairly or too violently by ICE. She also said that the United States had no business taxing remittances, that is money that Mexican nationals here, for the most part, illegally, send back to Mexico. She said, do not come in. into Mexican national ground if you're going after the cartels. That's understandable, but the cartels are going into our ground. So what I'm getting at is she's very, very intrusive in American politics. But here's the problem.

A recent Pew poll, taken just last year, showed a striking asymmetry, Whereas 61% of Mexican citizens have a favorable view of the United States, only 30%, 31% of Americans have a favorable view of Mexico. Now, why is that? Well, Ms. Scheinbaum should ask herself that question. First of all, Mexico is running up a $171 billion surplus with us. Remember, it was supposed to be the North American Free Trade Agreement. There wasn't supposed to be, at least eventually, surpluses are deficits. Canada, the United States, and Mexico were all supposed to trade freely and equitably.

That didn't happen. Why is Mexico running 171 trade surplus with the United States? Because China is avoiding tariffs by sending products to Mexico, which then Mexico assembles and exports with less duty into the United States. In other words, she's using a gimmick, as all Mexican presence have recently, to get around tariffs and to run up surpluses, contrary to the spirit and law of that old agreement. Second, the cartels are sending fentanyl, but the thing about fentanyl is the raw product comes from China. The Mexican government could stop that, but the raw product comes from China. It's assembled in Mexican cartel laboratories and factories, and then it's sent to the United States.

But it's not always sent this labeled as fentanyl. It's labeled as Valium. It's labeled as Ativan. It's labeled as dexidrine. It's labeled as either illicit or prescription drugs. It contributes to 70 or 80,000 deaths per year of Americans who either commit suicide through it, but the majority just simply overdose. Mexico knows that. Why don't they stop it? Because like the trade surplus, it creates foreign exchange.

$20 or $30 billion comes into the cartels and is absorbed by the Mexican economy. Finally, she's mad about remittances. And the tax on them is really paltry. One or two percent we'll see in the big, beautiful bill. But there's a trillion dollars that go out from foreign nationals for the most part in the United States all over the world. In the case of Mexico, it's the largest source of direct foreign exchange, $63 billion. But here's the rub. Many of these people sending back that money to Mexico are on local, state, federal entitlements for housing, for food, for education, for health care. In other words, we the taxpayers subsidize illegal aliens so that they can free up cash to send back to people in Mexico

in dire poverty that can't find redress of grievances from Ms. Scheinbone's own government. And so there's a lot of problems between us and Mexico, and the cure, the solution is not for her to start editorializing on the shortfalls of American foreign policy toward Mexico or our own domestic policy. I've got a better idea. Ms. Scheinbaum, why don't you do the following? Why don't you say that Mexican nationals are your citizens? They're key to your economic growth. You don't want them to leave your country.

You have a new revisionist reform plan that you're going to offer them social services so that they don't flee to the United States. You're going to keep your own people in your own country. Number two, you're going to forbid the importation at all cost of fentanyl into your country and you're going to go after the cartels and shut them down. Number three, you're going to call up President Trump and you're going to say in three years there will be no surplus and no trade deficit on either side. We want to be good neighbors and we want to be equitable. And therefore there would be no need for you to intervene in our politics and lecturing us what we're doing wrong and where we are exposed and all of the misdemeanors and felonies you spot in our policy.

Why am I saying that? because the problem with Mexican-American relationships, as those polls reveal, is on your side. Don't run up surpluses by mercantile dealings with an existential enemy of the United States, China. Do not count on American taxpayers to subsidize your own citizens who entered illegally to send back $63 billion to your failing economy. And do not lecture us about the cartels what we should and should not do about it when you are enabling this. to kill 70,000 Americans as a source of foreign exchange inside Mexico. That's tough love, but it's also honest. Thank you very much.

This is Victor Davis Hansen for The Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to The Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansen.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.