President Donald Trump lit the diplomatic fuse with a line echoing from Washington to Palacio Nacional. In a Fox News interview, after the death of two CIA agents in a car accident in Chihuahua’s Sierra, he declared that “Mexico is lost and the United States is the only hope it has”.

Host Martha MacCallum said Trump was visibly upset with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum over the lack of communication after the incident. Hours later, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt asked for “a little more empathy” from the Mexican government over the loss of two American lives.

The incident triggered a diplomatic clash. The agents died during an anti-narcotics operation which, according to Sheinbaum, Mexican federal authorities had no knowledge of. The president sent a diplomatic note demanding explanations and warned of possible sanctions against the Chihuahua state government for collaborating with foreign agencies without federal clearance.

Mexico’s reaction was swift. The Senate approved summoning Governor María Eugenia Campos Galván and state prosecutor César Jáuregui for April 28, to explain the alleged participation of US agents in local operations without federal approval.