President Donald Trump is pressuring the government of Mexico to allow the United States military to get more involved in eliminating drug cartels.

In a story published on Friday, “people familiar with the discussions” said that a 45-minute call took place between President Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on April 16 that got intense after the United States president asked for the American military to lead the efforts against the Mexican cartels, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Mexican president was not in favor of the idea, which led to heated words between the two.

Days after the reported phone call President Trump said, “Mexico is very, very afraid of the cartels,” when he was interviewed by Fox News’ Spanish-speaking network.

“We want to help her. We want to help Mexico, because you can’t run a country like that. You just can’t,” he said.

“Trump and Sheinbaum have said their call was productive. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said robust bilateral cooperation is delivering results and creating a historically secure border,” the report said.

“But Mexico still must do more to protect Americans from dangerous foreign terrorist organizations and the drugs and violence they flood into communities on both sides of the border,” the president said.

The  Drug Enforcement Administration said that “The deadly reach of the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels into U.S. communities is extended by the wholesale-level traffickers and street dealers bringing the cartels’ drugs to market, sometimes creating their own deadly drug mixtures, and exploiting social media and messaging applications to advertise and sell to customers.”

After President Trump designated some cartels as terrorist organizations the Mexican president demanded more protections to protect her nation’s sovereignty, Reuters reported.

“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation… (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air,” she said.