Blue state governor draws ire after signing trade agreement with Mexico while on junket

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day,” one blue state governor embarked on a taxpayer-funded “junket” to Mexico to push his own trade agreement.

Wednesday at the White House, the president’s objective to Make America Wealthy Again was set to move forward with the expected announcement on reciprocal tariffs. As Trump sought to leverage economic forces to the benefit of America in negotiating with other nations, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) advanced his own agenda with a bilateral trade agreement south of the border.

Journeying to Mexico’s State of Mexico, often referred to as Edomex, Pritzker met with Gov. Delfina Gómez Álvarez to sign an addendum to the Illinois-Mexico Sister-State Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday.

“Mexico has been an essential partner to the state of Illinois for decades, and I’m proud to stand alongside Governor Gómez Álvarez and assert the importance of this continuing relationship,” read a statement from the Illinois executive on the reinforcement of the 35-year-old agreement. “More than ever before, we must reassure our neighbors in Mexico that Illinois will remain a beacon of economic and cultural cooperation and opportunity for our people.”

“While much has changed in those years,” Pritzker also said, “the importance of our relationship has not.”

Today, we celebrate how far we’ve come in the 35 years since the original Illinois-Mexico Sister-State Agreement was signed.

While much has changed in those years, the importance of our relationship has not.

Today’s addendum to the MOU solidifies the ties that bind us together. pic.twitter.com/kzpUy2dXh8

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) March 31, 2025

Geared toward agricultural, financial and manufacturing trade, as well as efforts toward a “clean water future,” the addendum was signed as part of a trip that included business leaders, private partners and state officials with the stated objective to “strengthen the longstanding relationship between Illinois and Mexico, pave the way for future investments, and highlight the potential for shared success between the state and country.”

However, as Trump sought to put an end to uneven trade arrangements on top of the threats posed by cartels, since designated as foreign terrorist organizations, and the ongoing crises of human trafficking, drug trafficking, and illegal entry into the United States, other glaring issues with Pritzker’s political move stood out.

While the governor joined George Soros in backing Dane County Judge Susan Crawford against the Elon Musk and Trump supported Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s Wisconsin state Supreme Court election that Democrats won, with many bandying Pritzker’s name about in looking ahead to the 2028 presidential election, his record on pushing away businesses stood for itself.

Boeing, Caterpillar, Citadel, Guggenheim Partners, and Tyson Foods were just some of the companies that have fled The Land of Lincoln in recent years, and Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi joined “Fox & Friends First” Tuesday, where she brought up the tax burdens his policies had brought to the state.

“He lives in a bubble of unreality, and he’s hurting us. He’s one big hurt here in Illinois,” she told co-host Carley Shimkus as she decried the “Illinois junket” in particular. “To do it on the suffering Illinois businesses and taxpayers, families who are being forced out of the state, this beautiful state, that’s unheard of. But that’s Pritzker’s way.”

ICYMI: ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi joined @FoxFriendsFirst to discuss Pritzker’s trade mission to Mexico as businesses and families alike flee the Prairie State⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/LLGuZJnxy1

— IL Republican Party (@ILGOP) April 1, 2025

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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