The Mexican government’s campaign against foreign interference has reached U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson. The U.S. representative this week clashed with President Claudia Sheinbaum after her Sunday speech, in which she protested U.S. interference in Mexico’s internal politics. Johnson, a former Green Beret appointed by Donald Trump to press for action against the drug cartels, replied with a social media post that the Mexican leader acknowledged almost immediately: “Ambassadors must be respectful of countries’ internal political affairs.”

The post that unsettled the president was published by Johnson on Monday afternoon, a day after the rally in which Sheinbaum marked two years since her electoral victory with a renewed defense of national sovereignty and a direct reproach to the United States for making public its claims of alleged ties to drug trafficking against Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha and nine other individuals. On Monday Sheinbaum sought to soften the tone by acquitting President Trump of responsibility for the supposed campaigns against Mexico, which she blamed on “sectors of the far right,” but the diplomat responded forcefully: “The fight against cartels should unite us, not divide us. People on both sides of our border want to live safely and in peace. They deserve freedom from the intimidation, corruption, and fear that the cartels inflict. Every moment spent turning this shared security challenge into a political dispute is a missed opportunity to strengthen our partnership and protect the people we serve.”

The remarks by Johnson, a retired colonel with extensive experience in the U.S. intelligence apparatus, were not well received at the National Palace. It is not the first time the ambassador has stirred tensions in the bilateral relationship, with messages touching on the two most sensitive current issues: Chihuahua and Sinaloa. In Mexico they have sparked a bitter debate between the government and the opposition, who accuse each other of encouraging interventionism and covering up narco-politics.

Johnson’s messages

It was U.S. Ambassador Johnson who announced on Sunday, April 19, 2025, the deaths of two U.S. agents in a car accident in Chihuahua. “We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two U.S. Embassy personnel, the Director of Chihuahua’s State Investigation Agency (AEI), and an AEI officer in this accident. We honor their dedication and tireless efforts to confront one of the greatest challenges of our time,” he wrote. What appeared to be a conventional message of condolence turned into a delicate disclosure instead: the involvement of CIA agents in dismantling a drug lab in the Sierra Tarahumara, which put Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos, a member of the opposition PAN party, under fire from the federal government and the governing party Morena for allegedly authorizing foreign agents to operate on national territory.

The Chihuahua case prompted the Mexican government to send a diplomatic note to the United States requesting an explanation, and to summon the ambassador to a meeting with officials from the Security Cabinet. The Attorney General’s Office also opened an investigation that remains ongoing, and Morena threatened to push for an impeachment proceeding against Maru Campos, a process it later chose not to pursue.

Just four days after the Chihuahua incident, the U.S. ambassador visited Sinaloa to witness the launch of a project called Mexinol — a low-emissions methanol production plant — and used his remarks to launch a couple of barbs at an event that the then-governor of Sinaloa, Rubén Rocha, did not attend. “No company will commit resources where the rules are unclear, where there is no transparency, or where accountability is optional. If we want projects like this to succeed, if we want our shared future to be as promising as it can be, corruption and extortion must have no place,” the ambassador said in a state governed by Morena since 2021 and long suspected of protecting the Sinaloa Cartel dating back to Trump’s first presidency (2016–2020).

A week later, on Wednesday, April 29, Johnson posted on his social media a message reporting the filing of criminal charges against Governor Rubén Rocha and nine others by the U.S. federal prosecutor’s office in the Southern District of New York. While the ambassador again highlighted the “close coordination” and the fight against corruption as a “shared priority” of both governments, he also stressed: “The corruption that enables organized crime and harms both our countries will be investigated and prosecuted wherever U.S. jurisdiction applies.” At the same time, the Department of Justice released the grand jury indictment against Rocha; Morena senator Enrique Inzunza, Culiacán Mayor Juan de Dios Gámez and other officials. The political storm was only beginning.

In the days that followed, the Sheinbaum administration rebuked the United States for making the Rocha case file public, despite the existence of diplomatic channels and the confidentiality obligations that should govern communications between the justice systems of both countries. Sheinbaum personally questioned the arrest-with-a-view-to-extradition request, saying there is no conclusive evidence implicating Rocha and other Sinaloa politicians who are members of Morena. Since then the president has placed defense of national sovereignty at the top of her government’s and party-movement’s public agenda. “In the face of external attacks there must be national unity,” she said on May 1. “Mexico is nobody’s piñata,” she declared at the end of the month in her message marking two years since her electoral victory, by which time bilateral relations had already been strained by this episode.

For international relations scholar Érika Ruiz Sandoval, the latest dispute between the president and the U.S. ambassador shows that the government has not understood that the terms of the Mexico–United States relationship changed when Trump took office for a second time. The coordinator of the international relations degree at Universidad Iberoamericana believes that the National Palace grew used to the rhythms of Ken Salazar, the ambassador during President Joe Biden’s administration, who frequently visited President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, always wearing his cowboy hat and a broad smile.

“They don’t realize that the ambassador is acting as a harbinger of what’s going to happen to you; Ambassador Johnson is being clearer than ever that the terms of the relationship are different, and not negotiable. They are different because they can be, and because they caught you with your fingers in the door and you have no room to maneuver, no international political capital, and no reputation to defend,” Ruiz Sandoval says. The relationship between Salazar and López Obrador, however, soured when the diplomat and former cabinet member under Barack Obama criticized Morena’s judicial reform.

This expert considers it a mistake to defend sovereignty at all costs at the expense of the relationship with the United States, at a delicate moment in negotiations over the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), without gaining anything in return and solely to protect Morena politicians. “It’s a very short-sighted, poorly considered stand that risks what is ultimately this country’s lifeline, which is the USMCA,” she adds.

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It took a while, but the endorsement that Colombia’s far-right presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella was most eagerly awaiting has finally arrived. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support for him on Tuesday via his social media platform, Truth. And he did so in the most effusive way possible: “Congratulations to Colombian presidential candidate El Tigre, Abelardo de la Espriella, a smart, strong, and tough leader, on his decisive victory in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election,” the Republican celebrated in his message.

Washington’s official endorsement is yet another victory for the underdog candidate, who won the first round on Sunday with more than 10.3 million votes and has the momentum on his side heading into June 21, when he will face the leftist candidate Iván Cepeda in a runoff.

De la Espriella is an outspoken admirer of Trump and has sought to strengthen ties with his inner circle in recent months. He traveled to Miami twice during the campaign and met with several Republican congressmen and with Christopher Landau, the U.S. Under Secretary of State. On more than a few occasions, the Colombian candidate has, through letters and press releases, urged Trump to take action against criminal groups in Colombia and warned him of the alleged risks that Colombian President Gustavo Petro poses to the country’s democracy.

De la Espriella reacted immediately. In an interview with Semana magazine, he stated: “Thank you; without him, none of this would be possible. […] It is essential to understand that the U.S. plays a decisive role in combating crime and narco-terrorism. On trade issues as well, the U.S. is our primary partner. In the Tiger era, taking trade to unprecedented heights will be crucial.”

Petro’s response came shortly thereafter. In a post on X, the Colombian president criticized his U.S. counterpart’s “interference” in domestic politics. “When one country interferes in another’s decisions, freedom dies. I urge all of Colombia to vote in complete freedom and not become anyone’s slaves or colony,” he declared.

Petro and Trump had smoothed over their differences during a meeting held in February at the White House. Although the U.S. president is not particularly popular in Colombia—a recent poll showed a 37.6% approval rating and a 45.2% disapproval rating—Petro has been boasting in recent months about what he has called a good relationship. “I’ve spoken with him twice recently. Meeting him burst certain misleading myths about Colombia and about me. He got to know a different person,” he told EL PAÍS in April. Now Trump is backing the candidate whom the Colombian president has branded a fascist.

From Javier Milei in Argentina to José Antonio Kast in Chile, Trump has, since his return to the White House, built up a long track record of supporting right-wing and far-right politicians and candidates across the continent.

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Early results from California’s primary elections indicate that the Democrat Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, a Republican, will face off for the governorship of the nation’s most populous state in a November runoff. Both candidates emerged from a tight contest that will shape the state’s political direction after the departure of Governor Gavin Newsom, one of the most visible opponents of President Donald Trump. Since 2011, California has been under Democratic control and has become a laboratory for progressive policies that often clash with the White House agenda.

With roughly 55% of votes counted in the slow California tally, Hilton was just ahead of Becerra with 27.6% and 25.5% respectively, and are poised to be the two candidates most likely to advance to the November 3 election. There were 61 candidates on the ballot. Under the system known as the jungle primary or open primary, only the two contenders with the most votes move on to the next round, regardless of party affiliation.

Trump’s influence was evident in this election: through his platform Truth Social he urged his followers on Tuesday to vote for Hilton. “He will work with me and the Federal Government, the money will flow because I have confidence in him (but not any of the others!), and we will MAKE CALIFORNIA GREAT AGAIN,” the president wrote. Vice President J. D. Vance also joined in praising the candidate, stressing that the state needs better political leadership.

This is being described as the most expensive governor’s race in U.S. history, surpassing $315 million in spending, most of it on advertising, according to data compiled by AdImpact. The total swelled after the billionaire Tom Steyer, who founded one of San Francisco’s largest investment firms, poured more than $200 million of his own money into the campaign. But it was not enough to secure the Democratic bid, and he now appears set to finish third with just under 20% of the vote.

A Becerra win in November would signal continuity in the confrontational approach toward Trump that marked Newsom’s tenure. A victory for Hilton, by contrast, would signal a turn toward a conservative agenda aligned with the president’s priorities on immigration, public safety, the economy and government regulation.

With backing from Trump and the Republican Party apparatus, Hilton has pledged to turn the state red again. The former political commentator broke through in the race on two promises: revive an economy strained by rising living costs and toughen public safety measures, while also supporting operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Hilton began his political career in Britain, where he was born. He had ties to the Conservative Party during the Margaret Thatcher era, moved to California in 2012 and started a career as a Fox News host. His plan, in his own style, is to repeat the feat of another immigrant who became governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Since the movie star left office at the end of his second term in January 2011, no other Republican has held the post.

Becerra, for his part, seeks to become California’s first Hispanic governor in more than a century. The son of Mexican immigrants and a former secretary of Health in the Joe Biden administration, he has centered his campaign on defending the “California way of life,” protecting immigrants and expanding social programs that, he says, were undermined by policies pursued under Trump. Becerra has a 35-year political career that includes service in the state Assembly, the U.S. Congress and as California’s attorney general. He highlights as an achievement the fact that, with more than 120 lawsuits, he restrained Trump during his first term and proposes to repeat that strategy.

The outcome of the November midterms could have repercussions beyond the state’s borders and influence the Democratic strategy heading into the 2028 presidential contest. Outgoing Governor Newsom continues to signal a possible run for the White House.

During Trump’s first term (2017–2021), California positioned itself as the main center of resistance on issues such as immigration, climate change, reproductive rights and social justice. Although it remains one of the most favorable territories for the Democratic Party, Republican influence has grown in recent years: California was the third-largest state for Trump in 2024 (six million votes), behind only Texas and Florida.

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