President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Mexico of posing a “true threat” to residents of California and Texas, warning that the country must “immediately” address cross-border water and sewage problems.
The president posted on Truth Social, “Mexico must take care of its water and sewage problem, IMMEDIATELY. It is a true Threat to the People of Texas, California, and the United States of America!”
The post was accompanied by a video that says that “Mexico is sending millions of gallons of untreated sewage water into the Tijuana River.”
Newsweek has reached out to California Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality via email on Wednesday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
An estimated 25 million gallons of untreated sewage flows from Mexico into the Pacific Ocean each day, worsening air and water quality for residents in San Diego County’s South Bay, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The sewage, carried north through the Tijuana River, has repeatedly forced beach closures and prompted public-health warnings as federal and local officials press for long-delayed upgrades to wastewater infrastructure on both sides of the border.
In July, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and Mexico’s environment secretary, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, signed an agreement intended to better coordinate the two governments’ response to the ongoing crisis.
What To Know
The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District on Monday distributed 200 air purifiers to South Bay residents as communities continue to contend with foul odors and polluted air tied to cross-border sewage flows.
On Monday, President Trump threatened new tariffs on Mexico, accusing the country of violating a decades-old water treaty and warning he would impose a 5 percent levy unless it quickly releases water he said is owed to the United States and needed by Texas farmers.
Trump’s latest threats toward Mexico have heightened tensions between the two neighboring countries, raising concerns over trade stability, agricultural impacts in the United States, and the evolving security dynamic at the border.
Trump’s warning of a new 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods—contingent on the release of water to Texas under a longstanding treaty—coincides with ongoing disputes over security and his administration’s aggressive posture against Latin American drug cartels.
Trump posted on Truth Social Monday that Mexico was “seriously hurting our beautiful Texas crops and livestock” by failing to comply with a comprehensive water-sharing treaty.
In the post, Trump stated that Mexico owed the United States over 800,000 acre-feet of water due to years of treaty violations and set a deadline for Mexico to release 200,000 acre-feet before December 31 with the remainder to follow soon after.
What People Are Saying
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News Digital: “I’m glad to see the President finally address this decades-long crisis. It’s impacted our military readiness, threatened national security, and created an environmental disaster for Southern California — all while Mexico has faced little to no accountability. That must change. We need real enforcement, real consequences, and real action to protect our communities.”
Zeldin said Wednesday on X, “The Trump Admin has been taking important action to PERMANENTLY END the flow of disgusting raw sewage from Mexico into the United States. We are working very closely with our Mexican counterparts to ensure San Diego area beaches can reopen, foul odors cease, and the Tijuana River Valley gets cleaned up as quickly as humanly possible. This will also be great for our Navy SEALs who train in the area. Nothing short of TOTAL implementation of the July 2025 MOU between the US and Mexico will be acceptable. ALL of the Mexico side projects slated for completion in 2026 and 2027 are absolutely CRITICAL to get done!”
What Happens Next
Federal and local officials are now watching to see how quickly Mexico moves to complete the infrastructure projects outlined in July’s bilateral agreement, which Zeldin has described as essential to stopping the cross-border sewage flow. The EPA is expected to provide updates in the coming months as both governments work through funding, construction timelines and enforcement milestones tied to the 2025 memorandum.
Updates: 12/10/25, 3:43 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.