![]() |
| Trump, sitting next to Mexico's President, says he 'absolutely wants him to pay for border wall. |
US President Donald Trump said Friday he still wants
Mexico to pay for a planned border wall, as he met his Mexican counterpart for
the first time as head of state.
Asked at the meeting with Enrique Pena Nieto on the
sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, if he still wanted Mexico to
pay for the wall, Trump said: "Absolutely".
Before that, both presidents delivered statements with
Trump hailing the "successful day" so far.
"We're negotiating NAFTA (the North American Free
Trade Agreement) and some other things with Mexico and we'll see how it all
turns out, but I think we've made very good progress," Trump said.
Pena Nieto, through a translator, said that the meeting
will help the two countries continue a "flowing dialogue", in
particular "for the security of both nations, especially for our
borders."
The Mexican president noted that "migration" is
an issue that has "occupied" both administrations. He added that it
was a "co-responsibility to deal with organised crime issues."
Building a wall between Mexico and the United States to
stop illegal immigration -- and Mexico paying for it -- was one of Trump's key
campaign pledges in last year's election.
In January, Pena Nieto cancelled a trip to Washington in
response to Trump's insistence on the issue, plunging the countries' relations
into their biggest crisis in decades.
The two leaders have since spoken by phone, and a series
of high-level meetings have eased the tension.
Trump first met Pena Nieto in August 2016 when he was
still a presidential candidate.
That visit turned into a public relations nightmare for
Pena Nieto, who was lambasted for welcoming the brash Republican billionaire
despite his insults and threats.

Comments
Post a Comment