DeSantis: Using Tariffs to Force Mexico to Cooperate on Border ‘Absolutely’ ‘on the Table’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” 2024 presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Mexico has not adequately cooperated with the U.S. on securing the border and stated that increasing tariffs against Mexico to force greater cooperation on the issue “would absolutely be on the table.”

Host Martha MacCallum asked, “Would you ramp up tariffs against Mexico to get Mexico’s help involved here as well, Governor?”

DeSantis responded, “All those leverage points would absolutely be on the table. We have a lot of leverage over Mexico. And I think that it should be within the Mexican government’s interest to cooperate with us. I do not think that they have given adequate cooperation under the current incumbent. By the time I’m president, there will likely be a new leader, we understand that. But just think of all the millions of people that show up at our southern border. A lot of those people are traversing from Central America, even South America, all the way through Mexico to get to our southern border. If the Mexican government was truly a good partner, you would not have that many millions of people showing up on our southern border. So, they absolutely need to do more, and we need to be willing to use leverage to be able to do it.”

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