Mexico Threatens Legal Action Against Elon Musk After Cartel Comment
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is considering legal action.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is considering suing billionaire Elon Musk for his assertion that she is actually under the thumb of the cartels she’s fighting.
Musk made the comment Monday while responding to a post on Sheinbaum denouncing all out war against the cartels.
“Returning to the war against the narco is not an option,” Sheinbaum said in the clip from last year. “First because it is outside the framework of the law. All of the right wing that fill their mouths [with] the words ‘rule of law’ and defend the war against the narco, the war against the narco is outside the law because as I said or have said on several occasions, it is permission to kill without any trial.”
“She’s a cartel plant right?” a user replied to the clip, without providing any information about when or where it was from.
“She’s just saying what her cartel bosses tell her to say,” Musk said to the user. “Let’s just say that their punishment for disobedience is a little worse than a ‘performance improvement plan.’”
Sheinbaum told reporters in a press conference Tuesday that she was “considering whether to take legal action.”
Musk is making a massive accusation all while pushing misinformation—on the massive platform that he owns.
“Context matters: the video being used is an old clip on legal theory, while yesterday’s operation was a massive strategic win,” the Mexican Embassy in the U.S. posted in response to the video. “Recycling outdated clips to distract from a major blow to organized crime is how misinformation spreads. Don’t let them spin a victory into a conspiracy.”
This comes as recent cartel violence in Mexico dies down after government security forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” the country’s most wanted drug kingpin. Mexican Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo claimed on Monday that 80 percent of the nearly 25,000 weapons seized from cartels since October 2024 were from the United States—something Musk’s assertion completely ignores.
Mexico's Defense Secretary: 80% of the weapons seized from cartels are of US origin pic.twitter.com/HYAa6umuFR
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) February 23, 2026








