President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that he will “immediately” double tariffs on Mexico unless the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum stops migrant caravans advancing toward the U.S. border.

The ultimatum arrived through a post on Trump’s Truth Social network profile, one day after reports that roughly 1,500 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua had left southern Mexico bound for United States.

Trump tied the warning to his party’s defeat in the recent legislative elections. “Enormous caravans are forming and are beginning their illegal march through Mexico,” he wrote. “But they will not be accepted!,” the U.S. President continued. “Mexico must stop them now, and if it does not, tariffs on Mexico will double immediately,” he warned.

RELATED: Nearly 2,000 Migrants Set Out from Southern Mexico Toward U.S.

The post offered no details on which duties would double or how the administration would enforce the measure. Trump did not say whether the warning applied to tariffs already in force or to new levies on Mexican goods. According to Trump, migration is a failure of enforcement that Mexico must now correct.

The U.S. President said the warning had been relayed to the Mexican government, to outgoing Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, and to governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat he defined as “very liberal.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol were also briefed on his position. “There will be no leniency!” he added.

Tariff Leverage Returns

The threat revives a tactic Trump has deployed repeatedly against Mexico. Tariffs have served as his preferred instrument of pressure on migration, aimed at forcing tougher enforcement along the shared border.

Mexico functions as the main transit corridor for Central American migrants heading north. The departure of around 1,500 people this week underlines the continuing strain on that route and on the two governments that manage it.

Trump’s message lands at a politically charged moment. His party lost ground in recent legislative elections, and the Texas governorship is changing hands between a Republican and a Democrat. By naming Abbott and Hinojosa, Trump drew state politics into a dispute that also involves federal immigration agencies and bilateral trade.

The president’s post did not set a deadline for Mexico to act or define what would count as stopping the caravans. Without those parameters, the threat leaves room for both sides to interpret the stakes differently.

"Huge CARAVANS are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. Many of the people in these Caravans are those that various countries don’t want – ‘Send them to America,’ they say – But they will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW… MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF… pic.twitter.com/h3tjf5CjWr

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 12, 2026

The vagueness left traders and diplomats guessing about what comes next. A doubled tariff would raise costs for exporters on both sides of the border and could ripple through supply chains that depend on cross-border production.

Trump’s words, for now, function more as political signal than defined policy. The next steps depend on whether the caravan advances, how Mexico responds, and whether the administration translates a social media post into formal trade action.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.