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What’s New This Week

Good morning, this week, a U.S. attorney for cartel heir Ovidio Guzmán accuses Mexican officials of deep corruption, just as President Sheinbaum tours the very states tied to the allegations. Meanwhile, Trump’s sweeping 30% tariff threat on all Mexican goods is set to detonate across the U.S. economy—and his latest suggestion to strip citizenship from Rosie O’Donnell has constitutional scholars sounding alarms. Plus: a federal judge steps in to block Trump’s birthright citizenship order, and the farm labor crisis exposes a truth Washington won’t face.

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Trade Winds

30% Tariffs on Mexico? The Price of Politics Could Hit Your Wallet

Over the weekend, President Trump sent a formal letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announcing sweeping new 30% tariffs on all Mexican goods, set to begin August 1. The justification? Mexico’s alleged failure to stop fentanyl trafficking and address trade imbalances. But here’s what this means in real terms: American families and businesses will pay the price.

Mexico is not just a neighbor—it’s America’s number one trading partner, ahead of China and Canada. From cars and avocados to electronics and construction materials, the U.S. relies on integrated supply chains that stretch across the border. If these tariffs are fully imposed, the result will be higher costs on everyday products, inflationary pressure on manufacturers, and retaliatory policies that could chill investment.

Let’s be clear: weaponizing tariffs as a form of diplomatic blackmail undermines long-term strategic collaboration. While fentanyl is a real and urgent issue, blunt trade punishment doesn’t solve it. Instead, it risks destabilizing one of the most successful bilateral economic partnerships in the world.

The letter frames the tariffs as leverage—but if fully implemented, they would become a tax on American consumers, not on Mexico. At a time when nearshoring and economic cooperation with Mexico are critical to reducing dependency on China, this move sends the wrong message to investors, allies, and working families.

Instead of abandoning our strongest trade partner, we should honor the USMCA—the free trade agreement that President Trump himself signed during his first term. That agreement provides a fair framework for resolving disputes and strengthening North American supply chains.

If the goal is to stop bad actors, let’s focus on that. I support a targeted 30% tariff on transshipped goods—products that are rerouted through Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs from countries like China. That’s a legitimate concern and a violation of the rules we all agreed to. But punishing Mexico broadly, while undermining trade certainty and U.S. competitiveness, is the wrong approach.

Let’s enforce the rules—but not rewrite them out of political impulse.

Power Move

Threats Are Not Law: Citizenship Isn’t Optional

This week, Donald Trump claimed he’s “considering taking away” Rosie O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship. Let’s be clear: that’s not just unconstitutional — it’s impossible.

The 14th Amendment guarantees that no natural-born citizen can be stripped of citizenship. The Supreme Court has reinforced this for over half a century: unless someone voluntarily renounces their citizenship, it cannot be taken away — not by a judge, not by a bureaucrat, and certainly not by a president.

But this statement isn’t about legal authority — it’s about political intimidation. Whether aimed at immigrants, naturalized citizens, or vocal critics, weaponizing citizenship has become a recurring tactic in today’s political climate. Even when the law doesn’t back it up, the threat alone can chill dissent.

This moment is a reminder: executive power has limits, but testing those limits can be its own form of power. If we don’t call out these overreaches, we normalize them. And that has consequences for every American, not just Rosie.

The Border Buzz

A Kingpin Pleads Guilty — and the Real Bombshell Is What Comes After

Last week, Ovidio Guzmán López—son of “El Chapo” and a key figure in the Sinaloa Cartel—pled guilty in a U.S. courtroom. But the real story exploded outside the courthouse, when his attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, unleashed a political firestorm.

Lichtman didn’t just defend his client—he accused high-ranking Mexican officials of systemic, government-wide corruption, including allegations of cartel payoffs to governors and senior leaders. He went further, directly calling out President Claudia Sheinbaum for condemning the plea deal while, in his words, “acting like the PR arm of the cartel.”

Here’s the crucial context: Lichtman would have had access to the full scope of evidence gathered by U.S. authorities during the plea negotiations. That includes information the Mexican public has likely never seen—intelligence that the government has either withheld or never acted on. He’s not speaking blindly. He’s seen the case file. And now, he’s speaking out.

Meanwhile, as these accusations surfaced, President Sheinbaum was traveling through Sinaloa and Sonora—states long associated with cartel influence and the very locations implicated in the claims.

Yes, we’ve long acknowledged the presence of corruption in Mexico. But when an American defense attorney—representing one of the most powerful cartel figures alive and privy to confidential evidence—points to government-wide collusion, the stakes change. If even half of these claims are true, they don’t just indict individuals; they challenge the integrity of entire institutions, from state governors to federal leadership.

And the President’s response? Not investigation. Not outrage. Just denial and damage control. That’s not just disappointing—it’s dangerous.

As Americans and Mexicans working toward shared border security, the question we now face isn’t whether corruption exists—but how deep it runs, and whether the people at the top are willing to confront it.

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