Trump to Mexico: Pay for wall or don't come; Mexico cancels
Mexican president cancels meeting with Trump
Story highlights
- "Mexico does not believe in walls. I've said time again," Peña Nieto said
- Trump said a meeting would have been "fruitless" and reiterated Mexico must pay for the wall
Washington (CNN)Mexican
President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday canceled a meeting with US
President Donald Trump that had been set for next week after renewed
tensions over Trump's plan to build a wall on the border.
"This
morning we have informed the White House that I will not attend the
meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the POTUS," Peña Nieto tweeted.
Earlier
Thursday morning, Trump had tweeted that it would be better to skip the
meeting if Peña Nieto continued to insist Mexico would not pay for the
wall -- something the Mexican leader had said as recently as Wednesday
evening.
"If
Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be
better to cancel the upcoming meeting," Trump tweeted and in an earlier
tweet he noted the US's trade deficit with Mexico and what he said were
the American job losses caused by NAFTA.
Trump spoke about the cancellation during remarks at a gathering of congressional Republicans in Philadelphia.
Trump
said that he and the Mexican president had mutually agreed to scrap
their planned get together, and he repeated his position that the US
won't fund the wall.
"Unless Mexico
will treat the US fairly, with respect, such a meeting is fruitless,
and I want to go a different route," Trump told House and Senate GOP
lawmakers. "I have no choice."
"Border
security is a serious, serious issue and a national problem," Trump
said. "Most illegal immigration is coming from our Southern border."
On
Wednesday night, Peña Nieto had said at that time he did not see a need
to scrap the get together -- but he strongly reiterated that his
country wouldn't fund any border wall, which Senate Majority leader
Mitch McConnell said Thursday would cost $12-$15 billion.
"President
Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for the wall has once again
just been proven as delusional fiction by the Mexican President," said
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. "The wall is a multi-billion
dollar boondoggle in the making, and Republicans should be embarrassed
about their brazen hypocrisy in enabling it."
"Mexico does not believe in
walls. I've said time again; Mexico will not pay for any wall," the
Mexican president said in a video statement posted to Twitter and
translated by CNN from Spanish.
The
back-and-forth between the two leaders began last year during the first
days of the Trump campaign when he called some Mexicans entering the US
criminals and rapists and tensions lingered throughout the 2016
contest. They escalated sharply over the last 24 hours when Trump took
executive action on Wednesday to begin the process of erecting a wall.
The
President announced that move while a high-level Mexican delegation was
visiting the White House -- the first foreign representatives to come
since Trump took office -- for meetings with top officials, including
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and adviser Jared Kushner.
Trump signs executive actions on border wall 02:40
In his video address, Peña Nieto also said he had ordered government agencies to step up protection for immigrants.
"I've
asked for the minister of Foreign Relations to re-enforce protection
measures to our citizens," he said. He added that the 50 Mexican
consulates in the US will be used to defend the rights of immigrants in
the country and issued a call to action to legislators and civic
organizations to help immigrants.
Peña
Nieto closed his message by saying Mexico offers and expects respect.
"Mexico offers its friendship to the people of the United States and
expresses its wish to arrive at agreements with its government, deals
that will be in favor of Mexico and the Mexicans," he said.
Earlier
Wednesday, Trump signed two executive orders directing construction of a
wall on the US-Mexico border, boosting border patrol forces, and
increasing the number of immigration enforcement officers who carry out
deportations.
Meanwhile, the
Mexican officials who arrived Wednesday had been expected to lay the
groundwork for Peña Nieto's visit next week, which Mexican diplomats had
seen as an important opportunity to try to move past the anti-Mexico
rhetoric Trump used during the campaign and a chance to put the
relationship back on track.
"There
is ... frustration with our government and ourselves that we have not
been able to tell the story of this important relationship," a Mexican
diplomat told CNN ahead of the delegation's visit. "There are a lot of
stereotypes of Mexicans in the US, but there are also stereotypes of
Americans in Mexico. It is in the interest of both governments to
explain what this relationship is and what we can do together."
In
a Monday speech, Peña Nieto said his government is prepared to
negotiate with the US if Mexico's national sovereignty is respected. He
laid out economic integration and respect for the rights of migrants and
the money they send home as his nation's key negotiating points.
"Neither confrontation nor submission. Dialogue is the solution," Peña Nieto said.
Trump
has suggested some of the $25 billion in annual remittances that
migrants return home would be retained to pay for the border wall.
Trump: Mexico to reimburse US for wall 02:54
Trump
flew to Mexico City during his campaign to meet Peña Nieto and said
they discussed a wall Trump has vowed to build on the US southern
border, but not his demand that Mexico pay for it -- an assertion the
Mexican president later disputed.
"At
the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that
Mexico will not pay for the wall," Peña Nieto tweeted, after their
meeting, which was widely viewed as a public relations disaster for Peña
Nieto.
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