State Department Calls Trump Drug-Interdiction Remarks Unhelpful
- President says countries sending drugs to U.S. are ‘laughing’
- Remarks came as Tillerson was in Mexico to meet top leaders
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) roundtable discussion after touring the CBP National Targeting Center in Sterling, Virginia, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 2, 2018.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergA senior State Department official said that President Donald Trump’s remarks about cutting aid to countries that allow drugs into the U.S. was unhelpful, exposing anew the rift that’s emerged between the White House and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s agency.
Trump made the comments Friday, the same day that Tillerson was meeting with top Mexican officials and delivering a message of greater cooperation in efforts to stem the flow of drugs across the border. Tillerson said it was only fair the U.S. take some of the blame because it drives the demand for those drugs.