- Reaction score
- 22
- Points
- 430
Thursday, November 20
(It happened Monday)
US soldiers invaded Mexico express.co.uk
US troops storm Mexican beach after Trump's bomb threat as tensions erupt
The US Pentagon issued a statement after the troops stormed the beach.
By Alice Scarsi, Publishing Lead, Toby Codd
20:11, Thu, Nov 20, 2025 Updated: 21:44, Thu, Nov 20, 2025
American troops on a Mexican beach
American troops have stormed a Mexican beach (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
US troops stormed a beach in Mexico as Donald Trump seemingly threatened to bomb the country. They arrived on Monday (November 17) and drove six signs into the sand before Mexican security was alerted.
The unidentified men arrived at the beach in northeast Mexico by boat. Although the exact location has not been confirmed, a video on social media suggests they were located at a beach known as Playa Bagdad. The signs they planted read, "Warning: Restricted Area" in English and Spanish. They also stated that the area was Department of Defense property and that "unauthorised entry is prohibited".
US troops plunged signs into the ground (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
According to the Daily Mail, local security rushed to the scene on trucks mounted with machine guns. The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs has since confirmed that the navy removed the signs.
The following day, the Pentagon has been forced into a humiliating statement, saying the men were mistaken on landing on the beach located in an area where the Rio Grande, a river which originates in the US, flows into the Gulf of Mexico. They said the personnel had been sent to mark "National Defense Area III".
The statement said: "Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary's location. Government of Mexico personnel removed 6 signs based on their perception of the international boundary's location."
Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry said "the origins of the signs and their placement on national territory were unclear". They added that the Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission "will review the maps and instruments that mark the border between both countries, as established by existing boundary and water treaties."
The signs read: 'Warning: Restricted area' (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
Armed Mexican security personnel responded to the incident. (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
The incident comes as US President Donald Trump said he would be "ok" launching strikes on Mexico to fight drug smuggling.
This week, he said: “Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs. Mexico is — look, I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there."
Trump said he "wouldn't answer" whether he would conduct strikes only with Mexico's permission. He added that the country knows "how I stand".
The US President continued: "We’ve stopped the waterways, but we know every route. We know every route, we know the addresses of every drug lord. We know their address, we know their front door. We know everything about every one of them. They’re killing our people. That’s like a war. Would I do it? I’d be proud to."
The American troops arrived at the beach by boat (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
IPSO RegulatedCopyright ©2025 Express Newspapers. "Daily Express" is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.
US troops invaded Mexico beach daily mail.co.uk
'Restrained' : did US troops try to cordon off Mexican beach? Al Jazeera
Border Disputes
‘Restricted’: Did US troops try to cordon off a Mexican beach?
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum seeks the International Boundary and Water Commission intervention.
Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump
Trump and Sheinbaum have been going back and forth over threatened US strikes on what it says are drug cartels in Mexico [File: AP Photo]
By Sarah Shamim
Published On 19 Nov 2025
19 Nov 2025
Updated: 13 hours ago
As United States President Donald Trump promises to crack down on the illegal drug trade from Latin America, US troops appeared to arrive this week on a beach in northeast Mexico where they installed signs declaring the area “restricted” by the US Department of Defense.
Trump and his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, have been engaged in a back-and-forth war of words over the threat of US strikes on what it says are drug cartels in Mexico.
What happened?
On Monday, unidentified men arrived via boat at a beach in northeast Mexico, where they planted signs in the sand reading: “Warning: Restricted Area” in English and Spanish.
The precise location of the beach has not been confirmed by either side, but a video circulating on social media and local news purports to show Mexican marines removing the signs. The video is described as footage from a beach frequented by locals and fishermen, known as Playa Bagdad, in an area where the Rio Grande, a river which originates in south-central Colorado in the US, flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Al Jazeera has not been able to verify this video.
Incidente en Playa Bagdad, Matamoros
Pescadores denunciaron que presuntos militares o personal de EE.UU. cruzaron el Río Bravo en lancha y colocaron 6 letreros de “Área Restringida del Departamento de Defensa”.
La Marina mexicana los retiró de inmediato y restableció el… pic.twitter.com/v8ai7eKNCO
— Azteca (@MORRIS80766176) November 18, 2025
The signs stated that the area was Department of Defense property and had been declared restricted by “the commander”. They also stated that “unauthorized entry is prohibited” and “if you are found here, you may be detained and searched”. They additionally prohibited photography or drawings.
The Gulf of Mexico is bound by Cuba; eastern states of Mexico, including Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo; and states on the Gulf Coast of the US: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
In January, Trump signed an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which was rejected by Mexico. The change has been reflected on Google Maps for users in the US.
How has Mexico responded?
Late on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the navy had removed the signs because they were on Mexican territory.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) would get involved to resolve the dispute. “The river changes its course, it breaks loose, and according to the treaty, you have to clearly demarcate the national border,” she said during her daily news briefing.
What is the IBWC?
Established in 1889, the IBWC is a binational agency which oversees the border and water treaties between the US and Mexico.
It comprises a US section which operates under the foreign policy guidance of the Department of State, and a Mexican section, supervised by its Foreign Ministry.
The body is responsible for sharing and regulating the Rio Grande and Colorado River waters; building and operating dams and reservoirs; flood control; addressing border sanitation and water quality issues; and maintaining and marking the international boundary.
“The US-Mexico border along the Rio Grande was determined through a series of historical treaties, most notably the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo [which ended the US-Mexican War],” Gabriel Eckstein, a law professor at Texas A&M University, told Al Jazeera.
Eckstein, who is an expert in water and energy law, explained that Article V of that treaty demarcates the border as “up the middle of that river, following the deepest channel”.
“Because that description doesn’t provide a visual boundary, the two countries established joint boundary commissions,” Eckstein said. While the US and Mexico initially established ad hoc boundary commissions, they set up the IBWC as the permanent commission to survey the river and place markers at specific locations along the river.
The IBWC has resolved border disputes between the US and Mexico in the past by overseeing treaties demarcating boundaries.
“Over the years, as the river migrated or meandered naturally [which many rivers tend to do], adjustments had to be made,” Eckstein said. Hence, more treaties have been signed.
In 1963, the 100-year-old Chamizal dispute over a 600‑acre (243-hectare) tract near El Paso and Ciudad Juarez in the US was resolved by the Chamizal Convention. The disputed land was returned to Mexico, and it was agreed that the Rio Grande would be rechannelled to create a fixed, stable boundary between the two countries.
The most recent treaty the IBWC oversaw was signed in Mexico in 1970 to resolve boundary disputes and maintain the Rio Grande and the Colorado as the international boundary.
The IBWC’s role is to enforce these treaties.
So, has the US violated any of these treaties?
It appears so. “The agency or contractor who placed the signs is in clear violation of the 1970 Boundary Treaty,” Stephen Mumme, a professor at Colorado State University, told Al Jazeera. “The boundary is set at middle of the most substantial and deepest channel of the river as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.”
“The mouth of the river does fluctuate according to river flows, erosion, and siltation,” said Mumme, who specialises in US-Mexican water and environmental relations.
Both the US and Mexican governments and agencies are obliged to consult the IBWC prior to undertaking any project or construction that might plausibly involve or affect the international boundary.
“Mexico was completely within its rights to remove the signs and lodge complaints with the US State Department,” Mumme said.
What has the US said about this incident?
On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Mexico shared a comment from the Pentagon, stating that US “contractors” had placed signs beside the Rio Grande, marking “National Defense Area III”.
“Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary’s location,” the statement said. “Government of Mexico personnel removed 6 signs based on their perception of the international boundary’s location.”
The Pentagon added that the contractors would work with “appropriate agencies to avoid confusion in the future”.
National Defense Areas (NDAs) are US military zones along the US-Mexico border, managed by the Defense Department.
On May 1 this year, the US Northern Command announced that a new 260-mile (418km) NDA had been established along the southern border of Texas with Mexico.
“The establishment of a National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” the release quoted General Gregory Guillot, the commander of the Northern Command.
An American soldier in an armoured vehicle at the US-Mexico border following the establishment of a 260-mile-long military zone along the Mexican border, in El Paso, Texas, May 22, 2025 [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]
Where are the NDAs positioned?
The NDAs were established under a presidential memorandum Trump signed in April this year, titled “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions”.
The order directs the Defense Department to take a more direct role in securing the US-Mexico border. The memorandum directly authorises the department to establish NDAs.
The US Northern Command website states that the Defense Department enforces a “controller perimeter” in the NDAs to “repel unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and other cross-border criminal activities”. Suspected trespassers can be detained in NDAs, but then must be passed to the custody of local law enforcement.
According to the website, there are currently three operational NDAs besides the new one in Texas. One of these spans the Cameron and Hidalgo Counties in Texas. Others are in New Mexico and Yuma, close to the borders with California and Mexico.
What is the wider context?
The US has deployed a large military force, including B‑52 bombers and elite special operations troops, to the Caribbean in recent months, citing security concerns and the threat of an “invasion” by Venezuelan drug gangs. Trump is also considering land attacks in Venezuela to curb the flow of illegal drugs and has authorised CIA covert operations in Venezuela for the same purpose.
Since September 2, the US has conducted at least 21 military strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing about 80 people. Now, Trump seems to have turned his attention to Mexico.
On Monday, Trump threatened to launch strikes on drug cartels in Mexico.
“Would I want strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” Trump told a reporter during an Oval Office meeting between Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there.”
During her daily press briefing on Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum responded to Trump’s comments on Sunday about possible US intervention in Mexico. “It’s not going to happen,” she said.
Sheinbaum said she had told Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio multiple times during telephone conversations that Mexico does not want US intervention on Mexican soil.
“He has suggested on several occasions or has said, ‘We offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico or whatever you need to combat criminal groups’,” she explained.
Sheinbaum said she would accept collaboration and intelligence sharing with the US military, but she reiterated that no outside intervention would be permitted in the country.
“We do not accept an intervention by any foreign government,” Sheinbaum continued. “I’ve told him on the phone. I’ve said it with the State Department, with Marco Rubio.''
© 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network
(No US web sites for the moment)
(It happened Monday)
US soldiers invaded Mexico express.co.uk
US troops storm Mexican beach after Trump's bomb threat as tensions erupt
The US Pentagon issued a statement after the troops stormed the beach.
By Alice Scarsi, Publishing Lead, Toby Codd
20:11, Thu, Nov 20, 2025 Updated: 21:44, Thu, Nov 20, 2025
American troops on a Mexican beach
American troops have stormed a Mexican beach (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
US troops stormed a beach in Mexico as Donald Trump seemingly threatened to bomb the country. They arrived on Monday (November 17) and drove six signs into the sand before Mexican security was alerted.
The unidentified men arrived at the beach in northeast Mexico by boat. Although the exact location has not been confirmed, a video on social media suggests they were located at a beach known as Playa Bagdad. The signs they planted read, "Warning: Restricted Area" in English and Spanish. They also stated that the area was Department of Defense property and that "unauthorised entry is prohibited".
US troops plunged signs into the ground (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
According to the Daily Mail, local security rushed to the scene on trucks mounted with machine guns. The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs has since confirmed that the navy removed the signs.
The following day, the Pentagon has been forced into a humiliating statement, saying the men were mistaken on landing on the beach located in an area where the Rio Grande, a river which originates in the US, flows into the Gulf of Mexico. They said the personnel had been sent to mark "National Defense Area III".
The statement said: "Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary's location. Government of Mexico personnel removed 6 signs based on their perception of the international boundary's location."
Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry said "the origins of the signs and their placement on national territory were unclear". They added that the Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission "will review the maps and instruments that mark the border between both countries, as established by existing boundary and water treaties."
The signs read: 'Warning: Restricted area' (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
Armed Mexican security personnel responded to the incident. (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
The incident comes as US President Donald Trump said he would be "ok" launching strikes on Mexico to fight drug smuggling.
This week, he said: “Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs. Mexico is — look, I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there."
Trump said he "wouldn't answer" whether he would conduct strikes only with Mexico's permission. He added that the country knows "how I stand".
The US President continued: "We’ve stopped the waterways, but we know every route. We know every route, we know the addresses of every drug lord. We know their address, we know their front door. We know everything about every one of them. They’re killing our people. That’s like a war. Would I do it? I’d be proud to."
The American troops arrived at the beach by boat (Image: International Boundary and Water Commision (IBWC))
IPSO RegulatedCopyright ©2025 Express Newspapers. "Daily Express" is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.
US troops invaded Mexico beach daily mail.co.uk
'Restrained' : did US troops try to cordon off Mexican beach? Al Jazeera
Border Disputes
‘Restricted’: Did US troops try to cordon off a Mexican beach?
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum seeks the International Boundary and Water Commission intervention.
Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump
Trump and Sheinbaum have been going back and forth over threatened US strikes on what it says are drug cartels in Mexico [File: AP Photo]
By Sarah Shamim
Published On 19 Nov 2025
19 Nov 2025
Updated: 13 hours ago
As United States President Donald Trump promises to crack down on the illegal drug trade from Latin America, US troops appeared to arrive this week on a beach in northeast Mexico where they installed signs declaring the area “restricted” by the US Department of Defense.
Trump and his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum, have been engaged in a back-and-forth war of words over the threat of US strikes on what it says are drug cartels in Mexico.
What happened?
On Monday, unidentified men arrived via boat at a beach in northeast Mexico, where they planted signs in the sand reading: “Warning: Restricted Area” in English and Spanish.
The precise location of the beach has not been confirmed by either side, but a video circulating on social media and local news purports to show Mexican marines removing the signs. The video is described as footage from a beach frequented by locals and fishermen, known as Playa Bagdad, in an area where the Rio Grande, a river which originates in south-central Colorado in the US, flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Al Jazeera has not been able to verify this video.
Incidente en Playa Bagdad, MatamorosPescadores denunciaron que presuntos militares o personal de EE.UU. cruzaron el Río Bravo en lancha y colocaron 6 letreros de “Área Restringida del Departamento de Defensa”.
La Marina mexicana los retiró de inmediato y restableció el… pic.twitter.com/v8ai7eKNCO
— Azteca (@MORRIS80766176) November 18, 2025
The signs stated that the area was Department of Defense property and had been declared restricted by “the commander”. They also stated that “unauthorized entry is prohibited” and “if you are found here, you may be detained and searched”. They additionally prohibited photography or drawings.
The Gulf of Mexico is bound by Cuba; eastern states of Mexico, including Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo; and states on the Gulf Coast of the US: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
In January, Trump signed an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which was rejected by Mexico. The change has been reflected on Google Maps for users in the US.
How has Mexico responded?
Late on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the navy had removed the signs because they were on Mexican territory.
On Tuesday, Sheinbaum said the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) would get involved to resolve the dispute. “The river changes its course, it breaks loose, and according to the treaty, you have to clearly demarcate the national border,” she said during her daily news briefing.
What is the IBWC?
Established in 1889, the IBWC is a binational agency which oversees the border and water treaties between the US and Mexico.
It comprises a US section which operates under the foreign policy guidance of the Department of State, and a Mexican section, supervised by its Foreign Ministry.
The body is responsible for sharing and regulating the Rio Grande and Colorado River waters; building and operating dams and reservoirs; flood control; addressing border sanitation and water quality issues; and maintaining and marking the international boundary.
“The US-Mexico border along the Rio Grande was determined through a series of historical treaties, most notably the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo [which ended the US-Mexican War],” Gabriel Eckstein, a law professor at Texas A&M University, told Al Jazeera.
Eckstein, who is an expert in water and energy law, explained that Article V of that treaty demarcates the border as “up the middle of that river, following the deepest channel”.
“Because that description doesn’t provide a visual boundary, the two countries established joint boundary commissions,” Eckstein said. While the US and Mexico initially established ad hoc boundary commissions, they set up the IBWC as the permanent commission to survey the river and place markers at specific locations along the river.
The IBWC has resolved border disputes between the US and Mexico in the past by overseeing treaties demarcating boundaries.
“Over the years, as the river migrated or meandered naturally [which many rivers tend to do], adjustments had to be made,” Eckstein said. Hence, more treaties have been signed.
In 1963, the 100-year-old Chamizal dispute over a 600‑acre (243-hectare) tract near El Paso and Ciudad Juarez in the US was resolved by the Chamizal Convention. The disputed land was returned to Mexico, and it was agreed that the Rio Grande would be rechannelled to create a fixed, stable boundary between the two countries.
The most recent treaty the IBWC oversaw was signed in Mexico in 1970 to resolve boundary disputes and maintain the Rio Grande and the Colorado as the international boundary.
The IBWC’s role is to enforce these treaties.
So, has the US violated any of these treaties?
It appears so. “The agency or contractor who placed the signs is in clear violation of the 1970 Boundary Treaty,” Stephen Mumme, a professor at Colorado State University, told Al Jazeera. “The boundary is set at middle of the most substantial and deepest channel of the river as it enters the Gulf of Mexico.”
“The mouth of the river does fluctuate according to river flows, erosion, and siltation,” said Mumme, who specialises in US-Mexican water and environmental relations.
Both the US and Mexican governments and agencies are obliged to consult the IBWC prior to undertaking any project or construction that might plausibly involve or affect the international boundary.
“Mexico was completely within its rights to remove the signs and lodge complaints with the US State Department,” Mumme said.
What has the US said about this incident?
On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Mexico shared a comment from the Pentagon, stating that US “contractors” had placed signs beside the Rio Grande, marking “National Defense Area III”.
“Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary’s location,” the statement said. “Government of Mexico personnel removed 6 signs based on their perception of the international boundary’s location.”
The Pentagon added that the contractors would work with “appropriate agencies to avoid confusion in the future”.
National Defense Areas (NDAs) are US military zones along the US-Mexico border, managed by the Defense Department.
On May 1 this year, the US Northern Command announced that a new 260-mile (418km) NDA had been established along the southern border of Texas with Mexico.
“The establishment of a National Defense Area increases our operational reach and effectiveness in denying illegal activity along the southern border,” the release quoted General Gregory Guillot, the commander of the Northern Command.
An American soldier in an armoured vehicle at the US-Mexico border following the establishment of a 260-mile-long military zone along the Mexican border, in El Paso, Texas, May 22, 2025 [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]
Where are the NDAs positioned?
The NDAs were established under a presidential memorandum Trump signed in April this year, titled “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions”.
The order directs the Defense Department to take a more direct role in securing the US-Mexico border. The memorandum directly authorises the department to establish NDAs.
The US Northern Command website states that the Defense Department enforces a “controller perimeter” in the NDAs to “repel unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, and other cross-border criminal activities”. Suspected trespassers can be detained in NDAs, but then must be passed to the custody of local law enforcement.
According to the website, there are currently three operational NDAs besides the new one in Texas. One of these spans the Cameron and Hidalgo Counties in Texas. Others are in New Mexico and Yuma, close to the borders with California and Mexico.
What is the wider context?
The US has deployed a large military force, including B‑52 bombers and elite special operations troops, to the Caribbean in recent months, citing security concerns and the threat of an “invasion” by Venezuelan drug gangs. Trump is also considering land attacks in Venezuela to curb the flow of illegal drugs and has authorised CIA covert operations in Venezuela for the same purpose.
Since September 2, the US has conducted at least 21 military strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing about 80 people. Now, Trump seems to have turned his attention to Mexico.
On Monday, Trump threatened to launch strikes on drug cartels in Mexico.
“Would I want strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs,” Trump told a reporter during an Oval Office meeting between Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There’s some big problems over there.”
During her daily press briefing on Tuesday morning, Sheinbaum responded to Trump’s comments on Sunday about possible US intervention in Mexico. “It’s not going to happen,” she said.
Sheinbaum said she had told Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio multiple times during telephone conversations that Mexico does not want US intervention on Mexican soil.
“He has suggested on several occasions or has said, ‘We offer you a United States military intervention in Mexico or whatever you need to combat criminal groups’,” she explained.
Sheinbaum said she would accept collaboration and intelligence sharing with the US military, but she reiterated that no outside intervention would be permitted in the country.
“We do not accept an intervention by any foreign government,” Sheinbaum continued. “I’ve told him on the phone. I’ve said it with the State Department, with Marco Rubio.''
© 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network
(No US web sites for the moment)
