Donald Trump
Aquilino Gonell, Former Capitol Sergeant: ‘If It Hadn’t Been For The Police, The US Would Be A Dictatorship’
Published
2 weeks agoon
There are unsung heroes who put their lives at risk for others, heroes like 46-year-old former police sergeant Aquilino Gonell on January 6, 2021. On that day, a mob of fanatical followers of Donald Trump attempted to attack the U.S. Capitol, the symbol of the people’s sovereignty. Gonell, who was born in the Dominican Republic, put himself into God’s hands to defend the Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the building. On that day, legislators were preparing to certify the results of the election, confirming Joe Biden’s victory over the controversial New York real estate mogul two months prior. The police sergeant, who emigrated to the New York suburbs when he was 12 years old and could not yet speak English, left behind the life he had been fighting to achieve. In one of the darkest episodes of U.S. history, Gonell was beaten with flag poles and crutches, kicked and thrown around, resulting in injuries from which he has yet to recover, years later.
“That the nation’s president denies what happened and tries to rewrite history is something that torments me, and aggravates my moral wound,” says Gonell during a long telephone conversation with EL PAÍS. “If it hadn’t been for the actions taken by officers like me and my colleagues, the United States would now be a dictatorship instead of a democracy, which I hope it will continue to be after this black cloud who is currently running the country.”
Five years after the attack on the Capitol, former sergeant Gonell opted to leave the country to get away from the memories that still trouble him. He traveled to Colombia to spend a few days with his wife. He lives in Virginia, a half-hour drive from Washington, where the Capitol still stands, a supposed symbol of freedom. Gonell wrote an emotive and shocking book, American Shield, in which he shares his experience.
“I was assaulted by more than 40 people, my face was covered in blood,” he says. The attack on the building lasted for five hours. During that time, Gonell thought he was going to die, that he would never see his family again. The aggressions left him with serious injuries to his foot, shoulder and hand — but the worst part was the psychological trauma that still resurfaces when he recalls that day’s events.

Question. Would you do it all over again? Would you put your life at risk?
Answer. Yes, I have no doubt that if I was in the same situation, I would do it all over again. I would do my duty. There are some things that a person can’t control. According to my conscience and the eyes of God, I did what was right. It’s them who will have to settle accounts later on, because of their cowardice, their lack of loyalty to the country, and the damage they caused by not doing what was right.
Gonell says that he was the first person in his family to finish high school. His father was a taxi driver in Brooklyn and didn’t have the money to send him to college. So, he enlisted with the military to pay for his own education. “What I experienced defending the Capitol against rioters was worse than the combat I saw in Iraq,” he said in an article published by The New York Times on the fourth anniversary of the attack. He has had to retire due to his injuries. He survives on a pension that constitutes 40% of his salary as a police sergeant at the Capitol. “I have also lost a lot financially,” he says. Some of the people who died while attempting to attack legislators have been awarded millions in compensation by authorities. Gonell has had to launch a crowdfunding campaign to make ends meet.
Q. What happened that day?
A. It’s hard to remember it. I have trauma. Now they say nothing happened, nothing happened. I have a couple of questions. When they say nothing happened, what do they mean — that nothing happened to them? Nothing happened to the government’s elected officials. It happened to us, the police.
Q. Do you still get threats and insults?
A. Yes, every time I post something online. I did my duty. I did what I had to do on my own authority. I defended, protected, and saved lives that day. The lives of government officials, those of the people who nowadays, instead of praising the police, attack us.
During the course of that fateful day, nine people died as a consequence of the onslaught of hundreds of extremists and conspiracy theorists who believed Trump’s version of the election results. To this day, the Republican magnate says the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite the fact that there is a complete lack of proof to back up the statement — and indeed, there is much that points to the contrary. One of the officers who was with Gonell, Brian Sicknick, died after suffering two strokes caused by pepper spray. Another officer experienced burns from electric shocks that caused brain damage. Four who were wounded that day committed suicide in the months that followed.
Q. Is there space for forgiveness or reconciliation after what happened?
A. No, I don’t think so. One of my reasons for saying no is because those people, who were pardoned, the first reaction they had was to try to seek retaliation against me, against my colleagues. Those people don’t want the country to reconcile. They’ve gotten more defiant. They have tried to intimidate and assault us. They intimidate other politicians and elected officials, they make you doubt that a national reconciliation will ever be possible while this president is in office.
Gonell doesn’t want to remember. He suffers severe post-traumatic stress to this day. The trauma worsened when Trump won the election to return to the White House.
Q. How did that make you feel?
A. I had a lot of different emotions that day. I thought, “Why did I risk my life, if at the end of the day the person responsible for it, who lied, who planned it all, they believed him?” They believed the liars more than us, the people who defended the Capitol. I can’t believe that person deserved to be elected. He should never have been president again. I tried to warn people. I talked to people who didn’t understand what happened. I spoke in English and in Spanish. Even with all the things I did, because I felt that it was my duty, an extension of my service, telling the truth to people, even with all that, here we are again. I told them, “Be careful, a second chaotic period of Hurricane Trump would not be good for us, it wouldn’t be good for the country, it wouldn’t be good for democracy.” And look what happened.

Q. They voted for him again.
A. The founding fathers of this nation never predicted a situation like this: that the president of the United States would one day take revenge against his own government when he didn’t manage to win re-election, nor did they imagine that the population would support him despite it. The worst part is that the elected officials, who know how things are, who lived through it, who have seen the evidence, and out of political convenience, out of fear of retaliation, out of fear that they will back a challenger in their election, haven’t opposed him.
The damage that Trump is causing is irreparable. It’s going to take a lot of time to fix this crack he has created in terms of trust in the federal government, in institutions, laws, politics, and for rules to be respected
During the four years of the Biden administration, a congressional committee was created to investigate January 6. A criminal case was opened, and a judicial process was initiated. That House of Representatives committee published its findings in a meticulous report that documented Trump’s “multi-part plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.” It also supplied evidence that uproots the conspiracy theory of the supposed Democratic theft at the ballot box.
Q. Did members of Congress support you?
A. Many Republican legislators like to say they support the police, that they are defenders of the law and of the rules. But they turn their backs on us, even when we were the ones who did everything necessary to save their lives, everything that was required of us. Now, they criticize us for it, but on January 6, when the mob was coming after them, chasing them, looking to hunt them down, attacking the Capitol room by room, that day they panicked and were dying from fear. They tried to save their skins. That is what they have forgotten.

After the frenzied attack by hundreds of protestors, a vote was held to disqualify Trump from running for president again, but it failed by a handful of votes. And when the special counsel of the case, Jack Smith, was about to file his indictment, Republicans nominated Trump as their presidential candidate, and the Justice Department shut down the trial because the law grants presidents certain immunity from criminal proceedings. Smith later said that there was more than enough evidence to convict Trump for trying to undermine the 2020 election results. But his report was useless. As soon as the Republican came to power for a second term, Trump pardoned 1,561 people who had been charged with federal crimes for their involvement in the assault on the Capitol.
Q. What was your reaction to the Trump pardons?
A. Just minutes after he was sworn in as president, minutes, and under the protection of some of the very police officers who on January 6 protected the Capitol and were attacked by Trump supporters, he pardoned more than 1,500 people who attacked the police. The Republicans now call them heroes, they say they were the victims and that they are the patriots.
Q. Not to mention, they have no regrets.
A. No, they have no regrets. When they were in the court in front of the judge, many of them said they’d do it again. For him to pardon all of them, without reviewing them case by case… If they had done their research, they would see that many of them were not peaceful people, that before this they had committed crimes. Many of them should be in prison.

Q. Do you think that there is a solution for the country, after two Trump terms, polarization, internal division, the persecution of political adversaries? Do you think that wounds this deep can heal?
A. The damage that Trump is causing is irreparable. It’s going to take a lot of time to fix this crack he has created in terms of trust in the federal government, in institutions, laws, politics, and for rules to be respected. Now, if something bad happens, even if it’s his fault, he blames someone else. That creates mistrust in the system of checks and balances. He only wants the information he provides to be taken into account. Anyone who proposes or says anything contrary to his views is attacked, dismissed as irrelevant, or accused of inconsistency.
Q. He’s leaving several political victims in his wake, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who always questioned the attack on the Capitol.
A. He left her in front of an oncoming bus because of political differences. For me, it’s not a question of good or bad, I think that there are things to be said against the Republicans and the Democrats. At the end of the day, I did the right thing. I equally defended Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy. I didn’t ask them who they voted for, I just knew I had to defend the Capitol, defend my colleagues, defend the lawmakers, and defend the nation. Sometimes they call me a traitor, sometimes they throw things at me, but these are the same people who claim to support the police. Except for the Capitol police, that is.

Q. You’ve talked about betrayal.
A. I’ve felt betrayed by the Republicans who lived through the experience of January 6, 2021, because they forgot about the fear they felt for a couple hours that day. They lost that fear and went back to supporting him. I feel betrayed by the Republican Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, who refused to disqualify him because he said the civil court would take care of it. I feel betrayed by the Republicans who have stood idly by, waiting for God to save them while they do nothing. I also feel betrayed by the congressional commission, which did not provide much of the information it gathered to the Department of Justice in time, and the trial could not be held. The role of the attorney general was also a betrayal, as he did not do what he had to do because he wanted to project neutrality. And finally, I felt betrayed by thousands of people who forgot about January 6 in the last election, as if nothing ever happened.
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El Choque Entre EE UU Y Europa Desembarca En Davos, Que Acogerá Una Reunión Crucial Sobre Groenlandia
Published
10 hours agoon
January 20, 2026By
Andrea Rizzi
El mundo asiste a la muerte de una época, una que fue en buena medida plasmada y simbolizada por Davos. Un tiempo de libre comercio, de inversiones sin fronteras, de expansión democrática, de cosmopolitismo y de alianza entre democracias atlánticas. Se afianza ahora otro tiempo que es la antítesis de aquel: fragmentación comercial y financiera, regresión democrática, nacionalismos, brutal desgarro del lazo transatlántico. Este es el sombrío contexto en el cual se celebra a partir de este martes la tradicional conferencia anual del Foro Económico Mundial en la localidad alpina suiza, con una notable asistencia de líderes empresariales y políticos, entre ellos Donald Trump, el gran capitán del asalto al mundo de antes.
El presidente de Estados Unidos coincidirá en el foro con varios de los tradicionales aliados atlánticos con los cuales protagoniza hoy un tensísimo pulso que es uno de los aspectos cruciales del nuevo tiempo. Las amenazas de EE UU de hacerse con el control de Groenlandia por las buenas o por las malas han llevado la relación transatlántica a su punto más bajo desde al menos la crisis de Suez. Trump ha declarado en su red social que, después de mantener una conversación telefónica con el secretario general de la OTAN, Mark Rutte, prevé celebrar en Davos una reunión con representación de varias partes acerca de Groenlandia.
Los líderes europeos perfilan desde hace días una respuesta contundente a la decisión estadounidense de imponer nuevos aranceles a los países que han mostrado solidaridad con Groenlandia, y el riesgo de escalada es muy elevado. El secretario del Tesoro de EEUU, Scott Bessent, dijo este lunes en Davos que “no sería una idea sabia” proceder con esa represalia y recalcó que hay que tomar en serio las palabras de Trump. El presidente lo dejó claro publicando una imagen en la que se le ve plantando la bandera estadounidense en territorio de Groenlandia, con una épica parecida a la icónica foto de Iwo-Jima y un cartel que aclara que eso ocurrirá en 2026.

Las declaraciones públicas de EE UU dan a entender que la Casa Blanca no tiene ninguna intención de frenar y considera disponer de la que, en jerga, se define como la ventaja de la escalada, es decir una mayor capacidad de sostener una espiral de medidas y contramedidas. Confía en que los europeos se paralizarán por sus divisiones internas y que, en cualquier caso, no tienen capacidad de sostener el pulso.
En Davos está prevista la participación de Friedrich Merz (Alemania), Emmanuel Macron (Francia), Mark Carney (Canadá), Ursula von der Leyen (Comisión Europea), entre muchos otros. Pero también estarán en Davos aliados políticos de Trump como Javier Milei (Argentina) o el opositor británico Nigel Farage. De especial interés será el desempeño de Giorgia Meloni, teóricamente cercana a Trump en términos ideológicos, pero que muestra claros síntomas de incomodidad con sus políticas y una voluntad de mantener perfil de fiabilidad ante los socios europeos. Está previsto que acuda, aunque trata de evitar ser considerada como participante de un foro contra el cual, como líder soberanista, lanzó ácidas críticas durante mucho tiempo, como Farage.
Al margen del programa oficial, hay expectación acerca de reuniones del presidente de la Casa Blanca con Von der Leyen y con Mark Rutte, el secretario general de la OTAN.
Otro protagonista en Davos será el presidente de Ucrania, Volodímir Zelenski. Todo apunta a que el pulso entre europeos y EE UU puede tener como consecuencia una reducción del apoyo estadounidense a Kiev. La Casa Blanca juega hábilmente con la ventaja de la dependencia europea en materia de seguridad —y en concreto con la crisis desatada por la invasión rusa— para obtener ventajas en otros asuntos, sea Groenlandia o en el sector tecnológico.
Precisamente el sector tecnológico estará nutridamente representado en Davos, con líderes como Jensen Huang de Nvidia, Satya Nadella de Microsoft, o Alex Karp director ejecutivo de Palantir, compañía fuertemente imbricada con el proyecto trumpista, sea por la vía de los negocios —contrato de 10.000 millones de dólares con el Pentágono para desarrollos ultrasensible en materia de software, datos e IA- sea por la vía ideológica. El presidente de Palantir, Peter Thiel, ha declarado que democracia y libertad son incompatibles.
Significativamente, en la Promenade, la calle principal de Davos, donde se congregan las casetas de representación de gobiernos o empresas, la USA House se yergue justo enfrente del inmueble de Palantir. La gráfica de la caseta estadounidense luce un perfil de águila con un diseño y un tamaño que transmite un fortísimo sentido de agresividad.
Las perspectivas de la IA, el dilema acerca de su capacidad de generar mejoras de productividad y, por tanto, beneficios suficientemente rápidos e intensos como para justificar las enormes inversiones que se están haciendo, será sin duda uno de los elementos centrales de la cita. No obstante, la inquietud geopolítica parece dominar el horizonte.
Por supuesto, no solo el mundo occidental estará representado. El Foro cuenta con la participación del vice primer ministro de China, He Lifeng, los presidentes de Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto), Egipto (Abdelfatá Al Sisi), Siria (Ahmed al Shara), entre otros. Previsiblemente, Pekín tratará de poner aún más el acento sobre su tradicional guion de mostrarse como un socio responsable de la comunidad internacional, trabajo muy facilitado por la voladura que está orquestando la Casa Blanca. Muchos están repensando su lugar en el mundo a raíz de ella, y en esa reconsideración cabe un acercamiento a China, como el que protagonizan Canadá o la India.
El ministro de Exteriores de Irán, Abbas Aragchi, también figuraba en el programa, pero el Foro Económico Mundial anunció en la mañana del lunes que le ha retirado la invitación, alegando que esta fue extendida en el otoño pasado, pero que la “trágica pérdida de vidas en las últimas semanas significa que no es justo que el Gobierno de Irán esté representado”.
Aranceles
Dinamarca Despliega Más Tropas En Groenlandia Y Propone A Rutte Una Misión De La OTAN En El Ártico
Published
23 hours agoon
January 19, 2026By
Silvia Ayuso
Europa sigue afilando las garras ante la persistente amenaza arancelaria estadounidense, pero no quiere ser la primera en dar un zarpazo. Ni un arañazo siquiera. Desde Bruselas a Londres o Copenhague, el mensaje al comienzo de una semana clave para la cada vez más precaria estabilidad del orden internacional vigente desde la II Guerra Mundial ha sido casi unívoco: evitar a toda costa una “escalada” con el presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, agitador máximo del tablero mundial. Eso sí, si este persiste en sus ansias anexionistas de Groenlandia y hace realidad sus amenazas arancelarias a quien se interponga en su camino, la UE dispone de “herramientas” para responder y está dispuesta a hacerlo. Mientras tanto, Dinamarca ha desplegado este lunes más tropas en la gigantesca isla y ha propuesto crear una misión de la OTAN en el Ártico.
El ejército de Dinamarca aseguró a la agencia Reuters que un avión militar con soldados de su país aterrizará este lunes por la noche en Kangerlussuaq, en el oeste de Groenlandia. Fuentes de las Fuerzas Armadas danesas lo describieron como “una contribución sustancial” a las maniobras que van a realizarse los próximos meses en la isla ártica, aunque no dieron más detalles.
“No tenemos interés en iniciar una pelea, pero nos mantendremos firmes. Europa cuenta con un conjunto de herramientas para proteger sus intereses”, ha declarado la jefa de la diplomacia europea, Kaja Kallas, tras reunirse en Bruselas con el vice primer ministro de Dinamarca y titular de Defensa, Troels Lund Poulsen, y la ministra de Exteriores de Groenlandia, Vivian Motzfeld.
Ambos se han entrevistado también, a puerta cerrada, con el secretario general de la OTAN, Mark Rutte, a quien han propuesto una misión de la Alianza en el Ártico. “Lo hemos debatido y también lo hemos propuesto”, ha declarado Poulsen a medios daneses tras el encuentro. “Espero que podamos establecer un marco para llevarlo a cabo”, ha agregado. Rutte, muy cercano a Trump y que lleva días evitando pronunciarse públicamente sobre las tensiones en torno a Groenlandia, se ha limitado a declarar, en X, que en la cita se discutió “cuán importante es el Ártico, incluida Groenlandia, para la seguridad colectiva”. “Seguiremos trabajando juntos como aliados en estos temas importantes”, ha agregado.
Just met w/ 🇩🇰 @troelslundp & Greenland 🇬🇱 FM Vivian Motzfeldt. We discussed how important the Arctic – including Greenland – is to our collective security & how 🇩🇰 is stepping up investments in key capabilities. We’ll continue to work together as Allies on these important issues pic.twitter.com/0uCNaf8urq
— Mark Rutte (@SecGenNATO) January 19, 2026
“La seguridad del Ártico es un interés transatlántico compartido y un tema que podemos discutir con nuestros aliados estadounidenses. Pero las amenazas arancelarias no son la solución. La soberanía no es comerciable”, ha subrayado por su parte Kallas en su mensaje en las redes sociales.
“Las amenazas de aranceles no son aceptables como medio para gestionar estas cuestiones”, ha coincidido el comisario de Economía, Valdis Dombrovskis, al inicio de un Eurogrupo donde varios responsables europeos de Economía y Finanzas han coincidido en demandar “firmeza” y “unidad” del bloque ante Washington.
“Queremos mantenernos firmes, como país y como continente”, ha afirmado también en Berlín el canciller alemán, Friedrich Merz, hasta ahora uno de los líderes más cautelosos frente a las amenazas de Washington.
Desde que Trump concretara el sábado su amenaza de imponer aranceles de hasta el 25% a los ocho países europeos —seis de ellos, miembros de la UE, y todos aliados de la OTAN— que enviaron un pequeño contingente militar a Groenlandia para “explorar” posibles maniobras militares más amplias, Europa se ha movido rápido para coordinar al máximo su respuesta.
Una réplica que no excluye, como pidieron ya en una primera reunión el domingo a nivel de embajadores, la activación del instrumento anticoerción nunca usado hasta ahora, pero que según fuentes comunitarias está “listo y sobre la mesa”, si bien todavía, subrayan, no hay suficientes votos a favor de emplear una medida que algunos gustan equiparar a un botón nuclear. Una respuesta previa, más rápida y también casi lista sería aplicar los aranceles adicionales a las importaciones estadounidenses a productos por valor de 93.000 millones de euros que se acordó suspender tras el controvertido acuerdo comercial con Estados Unidos de agosto, pero que podrían activarse a comienzos de febrero, fecha en la que expira la actual paralización tarifaria.
“La UE tiene herramientas a su disposición y está preparada para responder si se aplican los aranceles con los que ha amenazado” Washington, ha recalcado un portavoz comunitario este lunes. “Usaremos esas herramientas según sea necesario (…) para proteger los intereses económicos de la UE”, ha agregado, si bien ha asegurado que, antes de dar ningún paso retaliatorio, la idea es buscar el diálogo para evitar “escaladas” que no benefician a ningún ciudadano a ninguna de las orillas del Atlántico.
Una primera posibilidad de avanzar en ese diálogo es el foro de Davos en el que se espera tanto a Trump como a varios líderes europeos. El secretario del Tesoro norteamericano, Scott Bessent, ha echado un jarro de agua fría a las expectativas europeas a su llegada a la ciudad suiza, donde ha advertido de que “todo el mundo debería creer en la palabra del presidente” estadounidense, mientras ha calificado de “muy imprudente” la posibilidad de que Europa responda con represalias comerciales a Trump. Tras la cita suiza, los Veintisiete está convocados este jueves en Bruselas para una cumbre extraordinaria que se centrará en la crisis de Groenlandia y las amenazas de Trump, que no tienen visos de remitir.
Desde Londres, el ministro de Exteriores danés, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, ha respaldado la línea del diálogo, pero con límites: “Hay algunas líneas claras que ni siquiera el presidente estadounidense puede traspasar. Por eso es importante enviar una señal clara a EE UU de que debe respetar la soberanía y la integridad territorial de los países”, ha declarado tras reunirse con su par británica, Yvette Cooper. “Si no respondemos con firmeza, estaremos enviando una señal de debilidad”, ha advertido.
Claudia Sheinbaum
One Day At A Time: How Mexico’s Sheinbaum Dealt With A Year Of Trump
Published
1 day agoon
January 19, 2026
Donald Trump’s return upended all the assumptions of a government that was only beginning to outline its National Development Plan. Since January 20, 2025, the volatility of the U.S. president has put the Mexican government to the test. Trump’s explosiveness has become the main challenge for President Claudia Sheinbaum, who is known for her meticulous planning and discipline. One year after Trump took up residence in the Oval Office, the president herself summed up her strategy for dealing with him in a single phrase: “It’s not just a matter of today.”
She explained this on Monday, January 12, just minutes after concluding her most recent phone call with the U.S. president, in which the main topic was his remarks about a possible incursion by U.S. troops into Mexican territory. “We must seek dialogue in these tense moments; it is the best time for dialogue,” said Sheinbaum, summarizing the strategy she has followed in the face of the worst specter of her administration: Trump and mass deportations; Trump and tariffs; Trump and fentanyl; Trump and the review of the USMCA trade agreement; Trump and the invasion of Venezuela; Trump and the threat of a military intervention on Mexican soil.
The magnate’s return to the White House a year ago forced Sheinbaum to rethink her governing plan, redefine her priorities, and align security strategy, economic policy, and domestic policy with the bilateral relationship — the only one that stands out in an otherwise blurred foreign policy. It is an uncomfortable but unavoidable relationship, built day by day, one that cannot be resolved through hours of work between governments, 15 phone calls between leaders, or a single meeting, no matter how cordial it may have been.
This is ongoing. We have been working with President Trump for almost a year now, and there have been moments… it’s not just a matter of today, it’s ongoing communication, coordination, defending the people of Mexico here and there.
“This is ongoing,” Sheinbaum explained at her January 12 morning press conference. “We have been working with President Trump for almost a year now, and there have been moments… it’s not just a matter of today, it’s ongoing communication, coordination, defending the people of Mexico here and there [in the U.S.]”

After a year of bilateral relations, Sheinbaum has refined her strategy and rhetoric around four pillars: respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; shared but differentiated responsibility; mutual respect and trust; and cooperation without subordination.
The reality is that today everything is filtered through Trump’s actions. From the design of the Plan México (a strategy for investment and the development of the domestic market), to the ongoing extradition of cartel leaders sought by U.S. justice, a long chain of drug seizures, the deployment of National Guard troops along the southern border, the establishment of migrant shelters on the northern border, and even the organization of the FIFA World Cup.
Calm, patience, and a cool head
Since November 6, 2024 — the day after Trump won the U.S. presidential election for the second time — Sheinbaum has had to address the issue of Trump, striking a cautionary tone.
“To all Mexicans: there is no reason to worry,” she said at the beginning of her morning press conference that day, the 26th of her administration. “To our fellow citizens, to their families, to Mexican business owners: there is absolutely no reason to worry. Mexico always pulls through; we are a free, independent, sovereign country, and there will be a good relationship with the United States, I am convinced of it,” she insisted, adopting a line of rhetoric that would become a constant —one that she herself compared to the tactic of Kalimán, the popular Mexican adventurer superhero who always appealed to “calm and patience.”
Two days after Trump’s election victory, Sheinbaum called him to congratulate him. He appreciated the gesture, but did not soften the anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican tone that had characterized his campaign — the same one that carried him to the White House for a second time. As Inauguration Day, scheduled for January 20, 2025, drew closer, the Republican became increasingly radical, focusing on his three main issues: immigration, Mexican cartels, and the free trade agreement.
Eight days before Trump’s inauguration, President Sheinbaum led a massive rally marking her first 100 days in office. The packed Zócalo square served to demonstrate popular support for the government in the face of Trump’s return to the White House and his explicit threat to deport thousands of immigrants. Flanked by members of her cabinet, governors, and lawmakers from the ruling coalition, Sheinbaum mounted a firm defense of Mexican migrants and their contribution to the economies of both countries. From that rally came another of the phrases that has become a banner in her relationship with the U.S. president: “We will always hold our heads high. Mexico is a free, independent, and sovereign country. We coordinate, we collaborate, but we do not subordinate ourselves.”
The following day, Sheinbaum gathered business leaders at the Museum of Anthropology to present Plan México, which, she announced, included a portfolio of domestic and foreign investments totaling $277 billion. A week later, with Trump just installed in the Oval Office, he began acting on his warnings, signing and publishing a series of decrees that seriously affected Mexico: the declaration of an emergency at the border, the reinstatement of the “Remain in Mexico” program, the imposition of tariffs, and the designation of drug cartels as terrorist organizations. “It is important to keep a cool head,” Sheinbaum responded on January 21.

Trump’s threats loomed over Mexico’s economy and politics for two weeks, during which Sheinbaum had to respond to dozens of questions about how she planned to handle them. “A cool head, calm, and patience,” she repeated several times. On February 2, Sheinbaum and Trump had one of their most important calls. It lasted 45 minutes, during which they reached a first agreement to postpone the implementation of tariffs on Mexican products until April.
In March, the government and Sheinbaum’s party Morena called for a new popular mobilization in the Zócalo, in anticipation of the imminent implementation of the tariffs. But another call with Trump defused the alert, and on March 9, in front of thousands of supporters, Sheinbaum recalled: “As you know, this assembly was convened in case we did not reach an agreement, with the purpose of announcing a strategy and actions we had prepared months in advance. Fortunately, dialogue has prevailed, and above all, respect between our nations… and the tariffs that were being applied to products we export to our neighboring country have been lifted.”
‘The cartels control Mexico’
Since then, the calls have followed one after another: April 17, May 1, May 22, June 17, July 31, October 25… Almost all were requested by President Sheinbaum through Ambassador Ronald Johnson, and always to address an emergency arising from a statement or action by the U.S. president — like the one in June, after Trump returned from a G-7 summit in Canada, where he was meant to have his first in-person meeting with the Mexican president.
The slight at the G-7 was resolved with another phone call, a couple of social media messages, and Trump’s apparent cordiality toward Sheinbaum, whom he has praised extensively, highlighting her intelligence, kindness, and character. These compliments are always accompanied by criticism, threats, and the assertion that the Mexican government fears the cartels. “She’s a good woman, but the cartels control Mexico. She doesn’t control Mexico,” he has said dozens of times.
Paradoxically, Sheinbaum’s government has found in Trump the perfect nemesis to rally her supporters and boost her popularity. In addition to the January and March gatherings, the U.S. relationship featured prominently in her October speeches, when she celebrated one year in office, and in December, when Morena once again filled the Zócalo to mark seven years of the Fourth Transformation. According to an Enkoll and EL PAÍS survey, Sheinbaum’s handling of the relationship with Trump is one of the policies most supported by the public. Sheinbaum’s approval rating has remained above 74% throughout her term, reaching 83% in May after she succeeded in postponing the implementation of tariffs.

It wasn’t until December 5th that Sheinbaum and Trump finally met face-to-face, at the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in Washington, D.C. Before the eyes of millions of television viewers around the world, Sheinbaum and Trump — with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as a witness — spoke directly for several minutes while the tournament groups were being drawn. Both described the meeting as cordial and friendly. “He was very kind; there was no rudeness at any point,” said Sheinbaum. Afterward, they had a private meeting, in which the three leaders agreed to stay in touch regarding the review of the USMCA, scheduled for 2026.
A month later, Trump decided to attack Venezuela to capture president Nicolás Maduro, and relations became strained once again. Mexico condemned the military intervention, and Sheinbaum defended the principles of national self-determination and the peaceful resolution of disputes. The attack on Venezuela set the stage for new threats from Trump, this time including the possibility of a U.S. incursion into Mexican territory.
After 10 days of statements and warnings, Sheinbaum requested another call with Trump, which took place on January 12. “We requested the call because he had brought up the issue three times in one week, and the worst thing one can do is say, ‘Well, we only communicate through what we say publicly, in the morning press conferences, at rallies, at assemblies.’ No, we must always seek dialogue, communication, so that the position and the joint work being done are clear,” she explained that day, after the call.
Hours later, despite the call, new warnings came from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a key figure in the Trump administration. And there were new responses from Sheinbaum, including announcements of seizures, criminal arrests, and the dismantling of laboratories. Nearly one year into Trump’s return to the White House, Sheinbaum has also proposed a final measure: a popular mobilization, which is already being discussed in Morena circles. “If it’s necessary to call a mobilization, to do something, we will do it,” the president has said.
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