The new operation would include U.S. troops on the ground in Mexico striking drug labs and cartel leaders, according to current and former U.S. officials, though a deployment is not imminent.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce to serve as the director of the Bureau of Land Management. BLM, which falls under the Interior Department, manages 245 million acres of public lands and 700 million acres of mineral estate across the United States.