Donald Trump has ordered the military to prepare to target South American drug cartels, several of which have been placed on Washington's list of terrorist organizations, US media reported Friday.

The US president has ordered the Pentagon to begin using military force against cartels designated as terrorist organizations, the New York Times reports.

The Wall Street Journal explains that the president has so far simply asked the Defense Department to prepare options for doing so.

The use of special forces and intelligence units is among the options being considered, and any action would be coordinated with the countries concerned, the WSJ added.

"Donald Trump's top priority is protecting the homeland, and that's why he took the bold step of designating several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

The United States designated the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel and six other drug trafficking groups as terrorist organizations in February.

The Trump administration added the "Cartel de los Soles" to this list in July, which it described as a Venezuelan gang led by President Nicolas Maduro to support drug trafficking to the United States.

In March, in his speech to Congress, the US president promised to wage "war" on Mexican drug cartels, speaking of a "grave threat" to the "national security" of the United States.

In response to these press reports, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum assured on Friday that there would be "no invasion of Mexico" by the US military.

"The United States is not going to come to Mexico with its military; we are cooperating, collaborating, but there will be no invasion, that is ruled out, absolutely ruled out, and furthermore, we have expressed it in all the calls: it is not permitted, nor foreseen by any agreement," she insisted.

Ms. Sheinbaum has made numerous efforts to show Donald Trump that his country is effectively fighting the cartels, which he accuses of saturating the United States with drugs, particularly fentanyl, a powerful opioid.