The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) has expressed support for President Trump's executive order designating Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The foundation highlighted the violence and political influence of these cartels in Mexico, which has prompted U.S. policymakers to consider more aggressive strategies.

TPPF had previously published research on this topic in March 2023 and, along with the America First Policy Institute, released a fact sheet detailing the authorities granted by an FTO designation.

Greg Sindelar, CEO of TPPF, stated, "For decades the cartels have embedded themselves in every American community, fueling the drug crisis, facilitating human trafficking, and profiting off the suffering of human beings. It is long past time that we respond to Mexican cartels for who they are—terrorists threatening regional stability and the American way of life. The United States will now be empowered to not just respond, but to win."

Joshua Treviño, Chief Transformation Officer at TPPF, added that the powers granted by an FTO designation are crucial for defeating the cartels. He remarked, "The enhanced and expanded powers afforded by a Foreign-Terror Organization designation for Mexican cartels are essential to their defeat. The designation itself is well earned by the cartels, which have sown death and terror for too long in American communities, American streets, and American homes. We congratulate the Trump Administration for keeping its promise and fighting back in America’s defense. Make no mistake: with this FTO designation, Mexico’s cartels — and their friends and allies in Mexico’s government — are on notice."