Trump Threatens to Pull US Out of T-MEC, Says America Is Better Off Alone

President Donald Trump is once again dangling the threat of withdrawing from the North American trade deal, telling reporters in the Oval Office that the United States doesn't need Mexico or Canada and would be better off without the agreement.

"The USMCA does one thing I love, after six years it's going to be renewed and I don't know if I'm going to renew it because the United States does better alone. We don't need anything Canada has or Mexico has," Trump said during a press availability focused on narcotics trafficking.

The comments came as the second round of T-MEC review negotiations is already underway between the office of US Trade Representative (USTR) and Mexico's Secretariat of Economy. The trade deal, which replaced NAFTA in 2020, includes a built-in review mechanism triggered at the six-year mark.

Trump paired the trade threat with a new focus on land-based drug interdiction, claiming his administration has reduced fentanyl trafficking by 60% and maritime drug smuggling by 97% over the past year.

"Now, I hate to tell Mexico this, but now we're focused on drug trafficking that comes by land, because by sea was tough," Trump said.

The president offered no evidence to support his interdiction statistics. He also claimed, again without proof, that there has been not a single undocumented border crossing at the US-Mexico border in the past 12 months, a claim that contradicts publicly available Customs and Border Protection data.

The dual threat, trade withdrawal and intensified border enforcement, is a familiar Trump playbook. He has repeatedly used the specter of trade sanctions and tariffs as leverage in negotiations with Mexico, and his administration has been pressuring the Sheinbaum government on security cooperation since taking office.

For Mexico, the timing is delicate. The second round of T-MEC negotiations is a critical juncture for the country's economic planning, and Trump's public threats, while likely negotiating posturing rather than genuine policy intent, create uncertainty for businesses on both sides of the border that depend on the trade framework.

Canadian officials have also been watching the T-MEC review closely, as the deal covers all three countries. Trump's dismissal of Canadian economic value echoes previous statements he's made about the bilateral relationship with Ottawa.

The review mechanism doesn't automatically terminate the deal if agreement isn't reached, but it does create a pressure point that Trump has shown willingness to exploit. The next round of negotiations is expected to continue through the summer.