The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Mexico Is Our Frenemy

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

On this edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words”, Hanson talks about the current status of the Mexican-American relationship. Currently, the United States has a $100 billion plus trade deficit with Mexico.  Days after taking office, President Trump directed the U.S. military to begin deportation flights to Mexico. Mexico initially refused, only to concede days later.  Trump threatened to impose a 25% on Mexican imports unless America’s southern neighbor took concrete action to curb the flow of illegal aliens and drugs across its borders.  A day later, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum caved, sending 10,000 national guard troops to the U.S. southern border.  “What is the Mexican-American status quo now? It's very disturbing. We sent deported criminals back to Mexico and they would not allow them to land in Mexico. We had people of the cartel shoot an American citizen on U.S. land and shoot at our Border Patrol. So, what is Mexico? Is it a neutral? Is it an ally? Is it an enemy? Is it a frenemy?” “So, I don't know what Mexico is, but I know what we can do about it. 20% tax on anybody who sends, anywhere in the United States, money back to Mexico. That would raise about $12 billion dollars. That would send a message. And then we have a tariff. Donald Trump says he's going to do it very quickly and that would tell Mexico, “you're not going to run up a $167 billion under the guise of the North American Free Trade [Agreement].”   For Victor’s latest thoughts, go to: https://victorhanson.com/  Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHqkXbgqrDrDVInBMSoGQgQ The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the Mexican-American status quo now? It's very disturbing. We sent deported criminals back to Mexico and they would not allow them to land in Mexico. We had people of the cartel shoot an American citizen on U.S. land and shoot at our border patrol. So what is Mexico? Is it a neutral? Is it an ally? Is it an enemy? Is it a frenemy? Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. I'd like to talk today about the status of Mexican-American, not as a Mexican-American citizen, but Mexico's relationship with the United States. What is the Mexican-American status quo now? It's very disturbing.

I'll just give you an example of what I mean. We sent deported criminals back to Mexico, and they forbid we were going to, and they would not allow them to land in Mexico. We had people of the cartel shoot an American citizen on U.S. land and shoot at our border patrol. So what is Mexico? Is it a neutral? Is it an ally? Is it an enemy? Is it a frenemy? Here's some data. Right now we have a trade deficit with Mexico of $150 billion. Remember Ross Perot? I was about in my 40s, early 40s, 1992, 96, third party candidate. He said, you're going to hear a big sucking sound. What he meant was, your jobs are going to go to Mexico, they're going to run up surpluses,

we're going to get her. I thought that was kind of a little bit dramatic. That's exactly what happened. When he warned that, the soon as NAFTA went in, they had a $2 to $3 billion, and then $10, and then $40, and then $60,000. The deficit with Mexico will be about $168 billion per year now. It was in 2024. It'll be bigger. 167 billion. That does not include, that does not include the $63 billion at Mexican 8x patriots,

the vast majority here illegally, send back to Mexico. And it's worse than that. How does somebody who's impoverished from some of the poorest areas of Mexico free up four, five, $600 of their income to send back to the Mexican government, I don't say Mexican government directly, but relieving the Mexican government are their responsibilities to have a social network for their own family, for people's family. And the answer is they're on subsidies. Local, state, federal, housing, education, food, health care, provided by the American taxpayer. And a third thing that's very worrisome, we should all be worrisome. On average, 75,000 Americans die of fentanyl overdoses per year. It's been going on for several years, at least a decade.

But here's the problem. It's not, as Mr. Obador say, our fault, partly an addict. You know, he has to take responsibility. But the cartels take raw products to make fentanyl shipped in deliberately by China, who wants us to suffer, and then repackages it in special cartel industries, and then disguises it for export into the United States. At Desjardin, we speak business. We speak startup funding and comprehensive game plans.

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And if you total that up over a decade, that's 750,000 deaths. That's more than all the wars of the 20th century and the 21st century. World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, First Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan. All the people who died by our enemies, the Mexican government or the cartels, and I say Mexican government by enabling the cartels, have killed Americans. It's worse than that. And in addition to that, the Mexican government votes against the United States on almost every major referendum at the United Nations, especially anything to deal with the Middle East. So this is my point. They are deliberately exporting their poor, and now we had 12 million people come in, and their way of thinking, this is wonderful. We have a safety valve. So if we have internal dissension because we've exploited it dangerous people, we send them to the United States. Number two, they send back $63 billion. It's our second largest source of foreign exchange. More than tourism and oil, right next to the trade surplus, we

get with the United States. And then the cartels, we don't know how much they make, but that money is fungible. So between these trade surplus of 167 billion plus the 63 billion and remittances, plus whatever the cartel make, 20, 30 billion from their opiate sales in the United States, we're getting over $200 billion off this asymmetrical relationship. And we pay the United States back by saying, if you dare deport people who have committed a felony or a crime, we're going to block your arrival. So I don't know what Mexico is, but I know what we can do about it. 20% tax on anybody who sends anywhere in the United States money back to Mexico.

That would raise about $12 billion. That would send a message. And then we have a tariff. Donald Trump says he's going to do it very quickly. And that would tell Mexico, you're not going to run up $167 billion under the guy of the North American Free Trade Association, not going to happen. And then we're going to tell them, if you don't deal with the cartels, we will. And I think Mexico will come to attention.

And we will not have Ms. Shinebaum, the president of Mexico, saying what Mr. Obador did during the Biden administration. It's a beautiful thing that 40 million people have come to the United States illegally. Oh, by the way, I suggest all you people who can vote in the United States, vote against Republican. And he did that again and again and again. It's time for us to be very sober, careful, judicious, and say to Mexico, you have to decide whether you're a friend, an ally, or an enemy, because right now you are an enemy of the United States, and we will take the necessary adjustments, make the necessary adjustments

for that unfortunate fact. Thank you very much, Victor Davis Hansen, for the Daily Signal. Thank you for watching today's podcast. And for more news like that, subscribe to the daily. daily signal. Maybe you can check out my own website at victorhansson.com for podcast, lectures, ultra series behind a paywall, but more importantly, just daily columns that are accessible and free to everyone. Thank you very much.