While terrified U.S. citizens hole up in tourist resorts as violence spreads across Mexico, President Donald Trump is sharing AI-generated videos of himself playing hockey.
“Trump, THE ENFORCER!” read a post from White House media adviser Kari Lake, shared by Trump on Truth Social Monday morning, along with a computer-generated clip of the MAGA president facing off against the Canadian national team.
American tourists have been forced to take shelter in many holiday hotspots following the killing of Mexican drug lord Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes—better known as El Mencho—in an audacious raid on Sunday.
Footage and images circulating on social media show fires and roadblocks by armed groups at multiple locations across Mexico. U.S. and Canadian carriers—including Delta, Alaskan Airlines, American Airlines, and Air Canada—have canceled dozens of flights, with further reports of taxi services and Ubers being unavailable, and local businesses shuttering as the unrest spreads.
“I’m stuck in Gudalajara Jalisco keep me in ur prayers please… I just want to go home!” Susanna Castaneda, who lives in Baldwin Park, California, posted on Facebook on Monday morning, along with footage of several fires blazing in the city.
“Pray for me currently stuck in Mexico,” Crystal Lizeth Hernandez, from San Antonio Texas, wrote. “This isn’t a viral moment I just want to get to my kids,” Karen Wilson, of Cape Girardeau, said.
Mexico’s Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, launched last month with the support of American intelligence and law enforcement agencies, killed El Mencho in the western state of Jalisco, along with at least six suspected accomplices.
“Due to ongoing, widespread security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity in many areas of Mexico, U.S. citizens should shelter in place until further notice,” the State Department posted on X late Sunday.
“Roadblocks have impacted airline operations, with some domestic and int’l flights cancelled in both Guadalajara & Puerto Vallarta,” the notice reads, referring to two of Jalisco’s largest cities. “Seek shelter and remain in residences or hotels.”
Assistant Secretary of State Mora Namdar added that “the Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens,” and urged tourists stranded in the country to “keep family and friends advised of your location and wellbeing.”
The department further lists Tamaulipas in the northeast of the country, Michoacan in the southwest, Guerrero in the south and Nuevo Leon in the northeast as other states where violence has erupted over the past several hours.
Some tourists appear to have encountered trouble following State Department guidance at hotels in more seriously affected areas. “I am platinum elite, over 1,000 lifetime Marriott nights,” one person posted on Reddit under the heading: “Westin Puerto Vallarta won’t honor late check out with streets closed.”
“PV is on fire due to the cartel setting cars and buses on fire all over the city,” they went on, adding they’d been unable to hail a cab. “I asked for a 4 p.m. checkout, which I’m entitled to based on availability. They won’t extend past 2 p.m. and said we would have to use the hospitality suite.”
“Worst Bonvoy property I have ever experienced,” they added. “I don’t think anyone will be checking in today so there’s no reason not to at least extend us to 4 p.m.” The Daily Beast has contacted Marriott Hotels for comment.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Sunday that the Trump administration had “provided intelligence support to the Mexican government” for the operation that resulted in the death of El Mencho. “President Trump has been very clear—the United States will ensure narcoterrorists sending deadly drugs to our homeland are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved,” she said.
The president spent much of the weekend raging on Truth Social against Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on his flagship tariff policy. “We’re winning too much, it’s just not fair!” he wrote late Sunday night. It was not immediately clear whether that post referred to the drug lord’s slaying, or to others throughout the day in which the president had praised U.S. victories at this month’s Winter Olympics.
He continued that streak Monday morning with his AI video clips, along with a screengrab of a post by former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which read: “You can’t take our country—and you can’t take our game.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada throughout his second stint in the White House.
The MAGA president designated El Mencho’s organization, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as a terrorist organization in one of his first executive orders after taking office for the second time. U.S. authorities had indicted the drug kingpin several times on narcotrafficking charges. The reward for information leading to his capture stood at $15 million at the time of his death.
Trump had previously refused to rule out the possibility of direct military intervention in Mexico as part of his crackdown on the global drug trade. “Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs?” he said to reporters in an Oval Office interview in November. “OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs.”
His comments came amid ongoing airstrikes against supposed narcotrafficking vessels in the Caribbean, slammed by critics as flagrant violations of both domestic and international law. Concerns over similar action in Mexico heightened following January’s lightning incursion into Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro, who now faces narcoterrorism charges in a New York federal court.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to that action by condemning the Trump administration’s “intervention in the internal matters of other countries.” She added that “it is necessary to reaffirm that in Mexico the people rule, and that we are a free and sovereign country—cooperation, yes; subordination and intervention, no.”
El Mencho had led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel since its founding in 2010 following the dissolution of the Milénio Cartel, a smaller narcotrafficking group also based in the west of the country. Mexico’s military is understood to have executed the operation to secure his capture on the basis of a “detailed dossier” provided by the U.S., Reuters reports.
The Mexican Defense Ministry has since said that the narcotrafficker was apprehended by special forces in the town of Tapalpa, around 80 miles southwest of Guadalajara. He is understood to have been taken into custody, and to have died from his injuries while being flown to Mexico City.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and State Department for comment.
