The key facts

  • Trump threatened to 'immediately' double tariffs on Mexico over claims about migrant caravans
  • He linked the 'resumption of the invasion' to the Democrats' victory in the midterm elections
  • Mexican authorities have not yet responded to the statement

Threat to Double Tariffs

US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to 'immediately' double tariffs on Mexico if Mexican authorities do not stop, according to him, the large migrant caravans moving toward the US southern border. 'Mexico must stop them, now, and if that does not happen, tariffs on Mexico will immediately be doubled,' he wrote on his social network Truth Social, adding: 'There will be no leniency!'. According to Trump, Mexican officials, the US Border Patrol, and the immigration agency ICE have been informed of his warning.

Link to Elections and Targets of the Warning

Trump linked the alleged influx of migrants to the midterm elections held on Tuesday, in which Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress and took key governorships. In his view, the 'invasion' of the US is resuming because of the Republicans' 'supposed loss.' He also claimed that 'huge caravans' are being organized and beginning an 'illegal march through Mexico,' and that foreign countries are allegedly sending unwanted individuals to the US who 'will not be accepted.' Trump also addressed his message to the leadership of Texas, mentioning Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, who defeated incumbent Republican Greg Abbott. The Mexican government, at the time of publication, had made no statement either on the tariff threat or on the claims about migrant movements; the caravans themselves and their scale remain Trump's claims, unconfirmed by independent sources in the available materials.