U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto should consider himself uninvited from his scheduled visit to the White House if Mexico continues to insist that it’s not going to pay for his fabled multi-billion dollar “Wall” on the southern U.S. border.
“The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers… of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting,” Trump said on Twitter.
The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017
of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017
In recent days, Trump has declared that Mexico would “repay” the U.S. for the construction costs associated with his wall. During a speech in front of a crowd of supporters in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania earlier this month, Trump announced his new immigration plan, which called for the use of U.S. tax dollars to pay for his border wall.
“The End Illegal Immigration act fully funds the construction of a wall on our southern border,” he said in a speech laying out his vision for the first 100 days of a Trump presidency.
“Don’t worry about it,” he cautioned the crowd in an aside, holding up a finger. “Remember I said that Mexico is paying for the wall.”
“With the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall, okay?” Trump continued, to a more muted cheer.
Trump echoed those sentiments on Wednesday during his first White House interview on ABC.
“We’ll be reimbursed at a later date from whatever transaction we make from Mexico,” Trump told ABC in his first television interview as president. “I’m just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.”
However, Nieto made it very clear that his country had no intentions of funding the wall in any way shape or form.
“I regret and reject the decision of the U.S. to build the wall,” he said. “I have said time and again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.”
The Mexican president also hinted that he may cancel his trip to Washinton in light of recent events.
“Based on the final report from the Mexican officials who are in Washington right now … I will make decisions about what to do next,” he said.
Many people perceive Nieto as being too weak when it comes to dealing with the abrasive American president. During the U.S. political campaign season, former Mexican President Vicente Fox may have inadvertently upstaged his country’s embattled current leader when he unequivocally declared during an interview that he was “not going to pay for that f*cking wall.”
And calling Trump’s bluff, Mexico’s president did, in fact, cancel the trip.
“This morning we have informed the White House I will not attend the working meeting planned for next Tuesday,” Pena Nieto tweeted.
Nice work, Trump. You screwed up another relationship with another trade partner with a Twitter tantrum.
These types of amateur stunts combined with his juvenile impulses may destroy historically strong relationships with close U.S. allies before Trump’s either impeached or otherwise loses his presidency.
Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
