Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been recognized for her firm stance in tough negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs, drug trafficking and migration. Photo by Mario Guzman/EPA
Claudia Sheinbaum marks her first year as Mexico’s president Wednesday with approval ratings near 70%, according to recent polls. Job creation, social programs, rising foreign investment and her pragmatic approach to relations with President Donald Trump have fueled her success.
Still, a fiscal deficit has slowed the economy, and insecurity among the population remains the main challenge of her administration.
Sheinbaum has been recognized for her firm stance in tough negotiations with Trump on tariffs, drug trafficking and migration. She has said her strategy in those talks has been “a cool head and no confrontation.”
That approach won her a pause on tariffs, which Sheinbaum touted as treatment different from that given to other countries, and more recently led to a landmark agreement with the U.S. government to curb illegal arms trafficking.
“As Trump has turned against his trade partners, President Sheinbaum has been able to argue that she is defending Mexico’s sovereignty and economic stability, and that has worked in her favor,” said Javier Aparicio, a professor at CIDE Mexico, in an interview with NTN24.
During her first year, Sheinbaum consolidated a social policy based on universal rights and welfare programs, elevating them to constitutional status and guaranteeing them as social rights.
The minimum wage rose 12% in January, reaching $13.60 a day in most of the country and $20.40 along the northern border.
“Raising the minimum wage was very positive, and the welfare programs have also helped ease poverty. However, the problem is long-term sustainability. There has been no fiscal reform, and to keep these programs going, funds have been taken from health, education and infrastructure,” Enrique Díaz, a political scientist at the National University of Mexico, told DW Español.
In the first half of the year, Mexico received $34.27 billion in foreign investment, a record high and a 10.2% increase compared with the previous year, according to the Economy Ministry.
Still, a fiscal deficit — about 5% of GDP — is slowing the economy. Growth remains stagnant, and GDP is expected to rise just 1% this year.
In the fight against corruption, Sheinbaum has taken bold steps by targeting fuel smuggling, which drains significant revenue from public coffers.
The broad majority her government holds in Congress allowed her to push through constitutional reforms her predecessor, Manuel López Obrador, could not. One of the most significant was judicial reform.
All judges, justices and magistrates were replaced through popular vote in an election with 13% turnout, but which the government considered successful.
“Now, experts are questioning whether there is a weakening of the judiciary and the rule of law, because we suddenly have a Supreme Court whose justices are government sympathizers, along with electoral magistrates and federal judges. This represents the highest concentration of power,” Aparicio said.
Without doubt, insecurity remains the top concern for Mexicans. Sheinbaum has tried to respond with a hardline strategy that reduced homicides by 25% in her first year.
Official figures show a sustained drop in homicides, attributed to a larger deployment of the National Guard and closer coordination between state and federal prosecutors. The decline has been presented as one of the most visible achievements of Sheinbaum’s administration.
However, other forms of organized crime have grown stronger. Even as homicides have fallen, disappearances and extortion cases have increased, creating a persistent climate of fear in many regions of the country.
Civil organizations warn that the focus on homicides masks a more complex picture, where violence is taking new forms and eroding public trust in justice and security institutions.
