U.S. President Donald Trump is expanding his criticism of the dominance he claims drug trafficking exerts in Latin American countries. After reiterating that land action (presumably in Venezuela) could be imminent, and once again insulting the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro—his most recent target—on Thursday it was Mexico’s turn. Although he expressed his “respect” for President Claudia Sheinbaum, he immediately accused the country of being run by drug cartels. It is an accusation he has been making since the beginning of his second term, but which seemed to have been shelved in recent months.

“Mexico is run by the cartels. I have great respect for the president, a woman that I think is a tremendous woman. She’s a very brave woman, but Mexico is run by the cartels,” said Trump in remarks during a roundtable on his Homeland Security Task Forces. Specifically, he was responding to a reporter who asked him about a previous comparison by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who equated drug cartels with the terrorism of the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda, and who asserted that those organizations have presumably diminished because now they know they’ll end up arrested.

Trump’s remarks about Mexico were very similar to others he has made on several occasions, describing something akin to a fairy tale: a country ruled by a frightened princess, in need of a knight to come rescue her. Sheinbaum, for her part, has adopted a non-confrontational strategy toward her northern neighbor, while ruling out U.S. military intervention on its soil. Her strategy is summarized with the slogan “cooperation yes, submission never,” which she has coupled with the surrender of 55 drug lords to the United States, the militarization of the border, and massive seizures of fentanyl. This position has allowed her to curb Trump’s most aggressive impulses, at least so far.

At the start of his new term, Trump had designated some of Mexico’s major drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as terrorist groups.

The designation of Mexican organized crime groups as terrorists has been one of the most delicate chapters of the bilateral crisis triggered by the Republican president’s ultranationalist policies, including a latent trade war and aggressive anti-immigration policy.

The CIA has stepped up its efforts with unmanned drone flights to spy on the activities of drug trafficking gangs. This was already happening even before the cartels were declared terrorists. U.S. media outlets, citing military sources, claim there were at least 18 such flights during the first two weeks of Trump’s presidency.

A Pentagon aircraft was identified on February 3 off the coast of Sinaloa, in the heart of the Pacific corridor, one of the largest production areas for synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and, especially, fentanyl. The powerful opioid has caused a public health crisis in the United States and is responsible for more than 70,000 deaths annually. It is one of the Trump administration’s greatest obsessions, and it has singled out Mexico as the main culprit. A week after that first flight, the Armed Forces acknowledged that it was indeed ordered by the White House.

In his remarks Thursday, Trump also once again lashed out at Colombia, saying that it is “a drug den, and it has been for a long time.” He also reiterated his insults toward the Colombian president, whom he has described as a “thug and a bad guy.”

His tough rhetoric parallels his administration’s aggressive stance against drug trafficking. Following the two recent attacks against alleged drug boats in the Pacific, which left five dead and added to the attacks already perpetrated in international waters in the Caribbean, the president warned on Thursday that “the land is going to be next” in his campaign to prevent the flow of narcotics into his country. He did not specify where such action would take place.

Trump also indicated that, in his opinion, he doesn’t need Congress to authorize such initiatives, despite U.S. law requiring it. “I don’t think we’re necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We’re going to kill them. They’re going to be, like, dead.”

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