Mexico has fired back at Donald Trump’s new threat to institute tariffs against the country, warning that it would respond with tariffs of its own.

“To one tariff will come another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a press conference Tuesday, adding that she would send a letter to Trump urging dialogue and cooperation.

Justifying his tariff threat, which came in a Truth Social post Monday evening, Trump complained that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.” Sheinbaum directly contradicted the president-elect, noting that migrant apprehensions at the border are down and that caravans haven’t been arriving at the Mexican border recently. She pointed out that gangs in Mexico are getting guns from the United States and actually contributing to crime south of the border.

“We do not produce weapons, we do not consume the synthetic drugs. Unfortunately we have the people who are being killed by crime that is responding to the demand in your country,” Sheinbaum said, referencing fentanyl, which Trump complained about on Truth Social Monday. She also criticized U.S. spending priorities.

“If a percentage of what the United States spends on war were dedicated to peace and development, that would address the underlying causes of migration,” Sheinbaum added.

American conservatives, including Trump, have long spread lies about the spread of fentanyl, a potent opioid. For example, it’s not coming from migrants across the southern border: Most drug arrests there are of U.S. citizens. In fact, in 2022, 88 percent of the fentanyl smugglers who were caught at the border were Americans. Plus, the minority of drugs that arrives from noncitizens isn’t coming from individual migrants, it’s being smuggled in tractor-trailers and cars.

Trump is either willfully lying or is clueless, and thinks his tariffs will scare countries like Mexico into some high level of cooperation that he thinks isn’t happening. But Sheinbaum’s words are pretty clear that she’s not willing to capitulate based on threats, and would hold the U.S. accountable for its policy missteps. Trump, who boasts about his dealmaking, will now have to contend with the real effects of his bluster.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, has threatened to jail Denver’s Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston should he obstruct Trump’s immigration agenda.

During a Monday night interview on Hannity, Homan cited a federal statue that prohibits “bringing in and harboring certain aliens.”

“Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing: He’s willing to go to jail. I’m willing to put him in jail,” Homan said.

The wild threat is a response to remarks Johnston made last week. In an interview published Wednesday with local outlet Denverite, Johnston described how the city might resist Trump’s plans to conduct mass deportation operations with federal forces. “More than us having [the Denver Police Department] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” he said. “It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them.”

In comments to 9News two days later, Johnston walked back his comments, saying he “probably wouldn’t have used that image.” But he affirmed his support for and willingness to participate in civil disobedience if “our residents are having their rights violated” or “things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un-American in our city.”

Asked if he would be willing to go to jail for standing in the way of the Trump administration, Johnston said, “Yeah, I’m not afraid of that, and I’m also not seeking that. I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems.”

Johnston’s remarks drew the ire of many on the MAGA right. Elon Musk, for example, posted on X, “Those who break the law will be arrested and that includes mayors.”

Homan’s threat Monday marks an escalation in his vows to iron-fistedly conduct mass deportations despite the preferences of state and local officials. In a Fox appearance earlier this week, the prospective border czar said, “I guarantee … President Trump will” slash federal funds to sanctuary states.

President-elect Donald Trump’s son Eric sent out a clear “warning shot” to one of their own allies, Republican strategist Boris Epshteyn, amid allegations he tried selling access to Trump to the highest bidder.

Reports on Monday revealed that Trump’s lawyers investigated the senior aide after he was accused of “multiple instances” of “requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industry.”

Epshteyn reportedly asked for at least $100,000 a month for his services, which he describes as “a type of consulting.” Epshteyn also suggested that Trump treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent “pay him to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago.” Bessent apparently declined.

Trump himself was told of Epshteyn’s side hustle, and is reassessing his role.

Eric Trump appeared on Fox News Monday night to clear the air on Epshteyn.

“I’ve known Boris for years, and I’ve never known him to be anything but a good human being,” he said. “That said I will tell you my father has been incredibly clear, you do not do that under any circumstance. I certainly hope the reporting is false.… If it’s true, the person will probably no longer be around.”

Epshteyn has denied any and all allegations, writing to CNN that the claims against him “are........

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