Pete Hegseth invaded Mexico by mistake after his troops ‘miscalculated’ the border, Mexicans strike back

We’ve all had bad days at work. You might have dropped a toner cartridge on the floor and made a huge mess, perhaps something expensive was stolen while you were on watch, maybe you accidentally invaded Mexico, or… Wait. Hold up.

Yup, as crazy as it sounds, last Monday Pete Hegseth screwed up at work and sorta kinda maybe invaded Mexico. And, as you might expect, the Mexicans weren’t happy.

What the hell: The US accidentally invaded Mexico on Monday, storming a beach and planting DoD “restricted area” signs claiming the land for “the commander,” and triggered a standoff with armed Mexican security forces, all because Trump’s government can’t even identify a border… pic.twitter.com/Ebz1lGpLyO

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) November 20, 2025

The incident began on Monday when a boatful of American soldiers landed on a beach in Playa Bagdad, northeast Mexico, and erected signs explaining that the beach is “Department of Defense property”, is now a “restricted area”, and that “unauthorized entry is prohibited”.

That was news to Mexico, whose military quickly rushed to the scene in trucks mounted with machine guns to demand that this American invasion cease immediately. A stand-off ensued, ending when members of the Mexican navy tore up the signs and disposed of them.

They read the map wrong

It soon transpired that this was something of an “oopsie” from Hegseth’s boys at the Pentagon. It appeared the troops had misread the map on where the border was. In an awkwardly written (and doubtless intentionally confusing) statement, the US Embassy in Mexico relayed an explanation from the Pentagon:

“Changes in water depth and topography altered the perception of the international boundary’s location. Government of Mexico personnel removed six signs based on their perception of the international boundary’s location.”

The red-faced Pentagon then muttered that they will “coordinate with appropriate agencies to avoid confusion in the future.”

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has passive-aggressively reminded America they need to know exactly where the borders are, so as not to accidentally invade again anytime soon, saying: “[They] will review the maps and instruments that mark the border between both countries, as established by existing boundary and water treaties.”

It’s still unknown exactly what US soldiers were doing and why this beach was being cordoned off. We also don’t know who gave the order to invade Mexico or what the overall mission was – could it even be a soused Hegseth sticking a pin in a map and telling troops to take that beach. Whatever the case, the message from Mexico is clear: hands off our beach!