Jack Nicas

They now are worried themselves that they may be on the receiving end of a hellfire missile.

And so that has to be changing the calculus of the criminal organizations in Mexico about how they go about their business, how they carry out revenge like this, and how they make a scene.

Because in some ways, they're trying to run a business.

When you're trying to run a business, you kind of need to keep your head down and sell your drugs.

I think that what we haven't seen from the Mexican government is addressing the corruption.

The reality is the only way for this criminal group to get this powerful and this big is through the complicity of officials across the nation.

We haven't seen that level of political will yet from President Shainbaum and her party to go after the officials who really actually have already been pointed to as being corrupt.

I mean, one of the most powerful senators in Mexico has been directly linked to a cartel.

The former head of the Navy has been linked to a massive corruption scheme.

And you can go down the list.

There are many other politicians.

And this is actually what we hear the U.S.

officials really asking for, is that is when they will feel there is a sign of real progress

is when the Mexican government starts to go after the corrupt politicians that have enabled this to go on this long.

I think Trump's goalposts are infinite.

And the strongest evidence of that is that less than 24 hours after the Mexican government killed El Mencho, probably the single biggest achievement that the government has had in the cartel war in years, Trump posted online, quote, Mexico must step up their efforts on cartel and drugs.

And that is, I think, a clear sign that the demands aren't going to end.

And probably that's the point.

And possibly that's also what is necessary, because there are signs that Trump's pressure is creating a dynamic in Mexico that really hasn't existed before and perhaps is creating the environment for

that is necessary to finally defeat or at least really confront these massive, powerful criminal organizations in a way that the government hasn't.