Dem voters were less enthusiastic when Trump touted crackdown on cartels and fentanyl, SOTU dial reveals

Republican and Independent voters reacted favorably when President Donald Trump brought up how his administration has cracked down on drug cartels and fentanyl, but Democrats appeared less motivated by Trump's aggressive foreign policy stance. 

"For years, large swaths of territory in our region, including large parts of Mexico, really large parts of Mexico, have been controlled by murderous drug cartels. That's why I designated these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and I declared illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction," Trump said to applause as he turned to look at Republicans. 

Per a panel assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners of 29 Democrats, 30 Independents and 40 Republicans, which tracked their real-time reactions during Trump's SOTU address, Democrats appeared to go slightly below baseline when Trump began touting his aggressive stance towards cartels in Central and South America, specifically his administration's bombing campaign against them which has included attacks in the open ocean off the South American coastline and in the eastern Pacific.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Independents showed a much stronger favorable reaction to the president's remarks about the actions his administration has taken against drug cartels and illegal fentanyl. 

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During his address, Trump also highlighted the U.S.'s help in capturing drug kingpin "El Mencho" earlier this month in Mexico. Ruben "Nemesio" Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," the leader of the CJNG, was killed Sunday in a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Mexico, authorities said. Though the operation was carried out by Mexican forces, the United States laid the groundwork, making El Mencho’s fall possible.

On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order directing the State Department to designate several cartels and international criminal groups "foreign terrorist organizations" (FTOs), a designation unlocking military-grade surveillance and "material support" prosecutions. Though lesser known than MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, CJNG was one of the groups designated an FTO by the administration.

Shortly after Trump’s executive order, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a policy memorandum to all Department of Justice employees, announcing a "fundamental change in mindset and approach" to cartels and transnational criminal organizations to a policy of "total elimination."

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The Trump administration has engaged in an aggressive bombing campaign against cartel boats throughout both 2025 and 2026. The U.S. has also conducted non-lethal maritime drug interdiction efforts as well.

In early 2026, Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro was captured by U.S. forces and extradited to New York on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, with Trump accusing him at the time of being a "kingpin of a vast criminal network."

The recent violence and capture of El Mencho this month has led American tourists to be trapped in Mexico. According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the State Department has been taking "hundreds of calls a day" providing Americans with travel support and advice.

"We are unaware of any reports of any Americans being hurt, kidnapped, or killed, and the Mexican drug cartels know not to lay a finger on a single American, or they will pay severe consequences under this president – and they already are," Leavitt told Fox News.