Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first woman president, was sworn in on Oct. 1, 2024. One of the first crises she has dealt with is US President Trump’s threats to impose hefty tariffs on Mexican goods. So far, the problem has been allayed, but she has other serious ordeals to manage, including the country’s history of forced disappearances.
With her calm demeanor and academic background, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has quickly become one of the most talked-about political figures worldwide. Despite having no experience in foreign policy, over the past two months, she has impressed people inside her country and beyond with her handling of damning tariff threats from United States President Donald Trump, successfully delaying the impositions twice.
Yet, many Mexicans wonder how long Sheinbaum, a 62-year-old leftist, can hold her ground against the constant threat of 25 percent tariffs by Trump on Mexico’s exports, which could severely affect an economy already facing significant strain. On March 19, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicted a 1.3 percent decline in Mexico’s GDP for 2025 because of the tariff war.
Right now, Trump has not followed through on his plans, but that could change overnight.
Domestically, Sheinbaum is contending with a growing insecurity crisis plaguing Mexico, especially after 40 forced disappearances have been reported by the country’s National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons since the start of her government on Oct. 1, 2024.
Still, Sheinbaum has turned these challenges into political victories for now. She has hosted “festivals” in Mexico City’s city center celebrating the tariff delays with thousands of people attending. According to national polls released on March 3, she has earned an 85 percent approval rating. The positive opinion makes her one of the most popular Mexican presidents in recent history since she was inaugurated as the country’s first woman leader on Oct. 1, 2024.
Even Trump has acknowledged Sheinbaum’s ability to navigate the twists and turns of domestic and foreign affairs. In a conference held in Miami in February, he referred to her as a “wonderful woman” and praised her for inspiring him to launch an antidrug campaign targeting fentanyl.
“I make so many calls, and I never learn anything from anybody,” Trump said. “I know everything, and I never learn anything from anybody, and I spoke to this woman, and as soon as she said it, I said, ‘Exactly, what a great idea.’”
Sheinbaum’s diplomatic style in dealing with Trump has been dubbed the “Sheinbaum method” by some Mexican media. While some national political leaders, such as former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, have clashed with Trump in his second presidential term, Sheinbaum has chosen her battles even when some of them pushed back on his agenda. That includes contesting the decision to follow his renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and her condemnation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Often wearing a sleek, long ponytail and dresses featuring traditional Mexican embroidery, Sheinbaum casually engages with the public. Through her social media presence, she offers a personal glimpse into her daily life, fostering a sense of connection with her followers. She has shown her interactions with everyday citizens, like a call she made on Dec. 12 with a boy she met in the state of Puebla, who gave her a letter asking to help her school.
When she is addressing critical issues like Mexico’s continuing disappearance crisis, she strikes a tone of seriousness and resolve — one that her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, was often lambasted for lacking.
Born to a chemist father and a biologist mother in Mexico City, Sheinbaum studied physics and earned a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. Her scientific and academic background is evident in her data-driven approach to governing, which she prominently uses in her speeches and discussions, including those with Trump.
“I don’t think Trump expected to encounter such an authoritative figure,” said Fernando Bustos, a cultural analyst and professor of neuroeducation at the EdgeHub School of Innovation in Aguascalientes, Mexico. “She also doesn’t fit into the completely male-dominated power sphere, which puts Trump in direct confrontation with other leaders. In the face of someone like Claudia, all of that unravels.”
In her regular morning news conferences, Sheinbaum emphasizes the importance of staying “calm and coolheaded” while prioritizing Mexico’s current interests — national security and the economy.
“Regarding the decrees that President Donald Trump signed yesterday, I would like to say the following: The people of Mexico can be sure that we will always defend our sovereignty and our independence,” she said in her first comments after the initial announcements of US steps that could affect Mexico.
According to Vidal Romero, a professor at ITAM University, in Mexico City, and a researcher focused on decision-making and presidential approval, two critical factors contribute to Sheinbaum’s current high approval in Mexico and among global leaders.
First, the creation of a common enemy — the US — has sparked nationalism, causing even those who didn’t vote for Sheinbaum to rally behind her. This phenomenon, known as “rally around the flag,” has united many Mexicans with a sense of pride.
The second factor is that Sheinbaum belongs to the political contingent currently in power, founded by her predecessor, AMLO. The Morena party holds a majority in Congress and controls numerous governorships, further consolidating Sheinbaum’s presidential strength.
“These two factors are the ones we can see reflected in her popularity,” Romero said. “But what could hurt her is the insecurity crisis, as many other Mexican presidents before her have faced.”
Last week, dozens of shoes, clothing and human bone fragments were found by mothers searching for their children on a ranch in Teuchitlán, a town near Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico. The discovery has shaken the country, highlighting the crisis of forced disappearances, with more than 120,000 cases of people missing without having been sold since 1964, according to official figures.
The site of the discovery, allegedly used as a training base and extermination camp for drug-cartel recruits, is being investigated. Many people have called the grisly scene in Teuchitlán her “Achilles’ heel,” a claim Sheinbaum has dismissed.
Indeed, in response to the discovery and in keeping with her technocratic approach in her presidency, she has proposed modifications to the country’s missing person search system. However, the issue of disappearances remains highly sensitive in the country, which has been plagued by murderous violence for decades.
According to the UN Human Rights Office, Mexico’s long-term problem of forced disappearances is characterized by impunity, physical targeting of human rights defenders, inadequate forensics and deficient institutional capacities to search for people.
“The absence of a human rights-based security policy is one of the greatest challenges to the prevention of criminal behavior and effective investigation and prosecution,” Jesús Peña Palacios, a deputy representative of the UN Human Rights Office in Mexico, said.
Only six months into her government, Sheinbaum has yet to contend with the other domestic giant that could hurt her presidency: the economy. According to the Bank of Mexico, the GDP growth forecast will fall to 1 percent because of lower investment, slowing consumption and a contracting energy sector. Her administration continues to announce investments and initiatives designed to fix this prediction.
“We don’t have that expectation because we have a plan and we are working,” Sheinbaum said during her press conference on March 19. “Investments are being announced, and all the work we are doing to strengthen the economy from below.”
Mariana Hernández Ampudia
Mariana Hernández Ampudia is a multimedia journalist from Mexico City, currently pursuing a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Her reporting focuses on Latino communities in the United States, immigration and Latin America.