Trump confirms he offered to send US troops to Mexico to help with cartels

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed he had offered to send U.S. troops to Mexico to help Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum combat drug trafficking, an offer Sheinbaum disclosed on Saturday and said she had refused, Reuters reports.

Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida, said he had made the offer because the drug cartels were "horrible people" who had caused thousands of deaths.

"If Mexico wanted help with the cartels, I would be honored to go in and do it," he said, according to Reuters.

Asked if he was disappointed that Sheinbaum had turned down the offer, Trump said, "I think she's a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can't even think straight."

Sheinbaum on Saturday she had rejected Trump's offer because "sovereignty is not for sale." 

Trump has said publicly the U.S. would take unilateral military action if Mexico failed to dismantle drug cartels.