Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump Seem to Have a Pretty Contentious Relationship

Since Donald Trump first announced that he was running for president, he has made Mexico one of the central targets of his ire. His original pitch was very much about curbing illegal immigration across America's southern border, and while not all of those immigrants come from Mexico originally, all of them eventually travel through the country.

Given how vocal Trump has been about Mexico as a source of America's problems, it's only natural that Trump would have a somewhat contentious relationship with Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum. Here's what we know about their relationship.

Although the two of them have largely kept things courteous in public appearances together, it's clear that Mexico no longer sees the U.S. as a close and reliable ally. Since Trump retook office, Sheinbaum has walked a fine line with the president, cooperating with the administration's attempts to target cartels in Mexico, even as she has often offered fairly harsh rebukes for some of his policies, especially as they pertain to Mexican citizens.

In April of 2026, she started to take a harder line on Trump because of mounting deaths of Mexican citizens in U.S. custody, and the news that the U.S. would be instituting an energy blockade against Cuba. After the death of 49-year-old Mexican citizen Alejandro Cabrera Clemente in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency detention center in Louisiana, Sheinbaum offered her harshest words yet for the president.

Mexico's government called the 15 deaths of Mexican citizens in ICE custody "unacceptable" and said that ICE's detention facilities were “incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life."

Sheinbaum also said that she would be launching investigations into all 15 deaths, and instructed Mexican consulates to visit detention centres daily.

Sheinbaum also said that she would raise the deaths to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and would also consider an appeal to the UN if necessary. “We are going to defend Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum said, adding that “there are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having papers”.

Sheinbaum's goal in her relationship with Trump has long been to balance having a strong relationship with the U.S. with making it clear that Mexico remains a sovereign nation.

The Trump administration has placed more pressure on Latin America than any other recent administration, but Trump has said that he likes Sheinbaum personally. The most contentious issue between the two has long been Cuba, which the Trump administration wants to exert almost complete control over.

"Mexico has every right to send fuel, whether for humanitarian or commercial reasons,” Sheinbaum said, challenging the Trump administration's energy blockade on the island, which is designed to facilitate regime change. Sheinbaum appears to disapprove of many of the Trump administration's policies, but also understands that the United States has more power to exercise its will on the world stage. As a result, the relationship between the two has been both cordial and a little testy.