The Central Intelligence Agency is poised to take a larger, more aggressive role under President Donald Trump in the battle against Mexican-based drug cartels, devising and evaluating plans to share more intelligence with regional governments, train local counternarcotics units and possibly conduct other covert actions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The US military has ramped up its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels after Washington designated them terrorist groups.

The presence of spy planes in international airspace around the Baja peninsula has sparked controversy in Mexico, with the defense secretary saying he had not been informed of the flights’ purpose.

Although the terrorist designation gives US authorities extraordinary powers to fight the cartels — a key campaign promise of US President Donald Trump — it could hurt economic growth on both sides of the border.

President Trump says he agreed to “immediately pause” tariffs on Mexico for a month after a “very friendly” conversation with the country’s president Claudia Sheinbaum.

“I just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico. It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country,” he wrote.

President Donald Trump will not impose tariffs on Mexico for at least a month as the two sides continue to negotiate on how to counter illegal immigration and drug trafficking at the border.

If you want to know how to respond to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, just think back to what happened between the EU and the UK after the Brexit referendum. The EU thought it could pressurise the UK either into reversing Brexit or accepting a bad deal. The EU, as the larger power, believed it had a stronger position — and the media concurred.

Donald Trump has threatened to widen the scope of his trade tariffs, repeating his warning that the European Union – and potentially the UK – will face levies, even as he conceded that Americans could bear some of the economic brunt of a nascent global trade war.

It comes as Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, announced on Saturday, sparked retaliation from all three countries. Mexico and Canada have vowed levies of their own while China and Canada are seeking legal challenges.

The White House on Friday confirmed that President Donald Trump will implement tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China this weekend.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said  thatTrump will impose a 25% levy on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on imports from China, beginning on Saturday, in response to the "illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans."

US President Donald Trump will impose tariffs on Saturday of 25% on Mexico, 25% on Canada and 10% on China, says the White House.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the duties were in response to "the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed 10s of millions of Americans".

It is not yet clear whether the import taxes would include any exemptions on products such as oil.