Tags: LT | Mexico | Trump
Mexico President Cancels Meeting With Trump
Thursday, 26 January 2017 12:02 PM EST
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Thursday he will not attend a planned Jan. 31 meeting with President Donald Trump, using Twitter to announce his decision just hours after Trump tweeted that the meeting should be canceled if Mexico won't pay for a border wall.
"This morning we have informed the White House that I will not attend the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the POTUS," Pena Nieto said in Spanish on Twitter. "Mexico reaffirms its willingness to work with the United States to reach agreements that benefit both nations," he added.
Esta mañana hemos informado a la Casa Blanca que no asistiré a la reunión de trabajo programada para el próximo martes con el @POTUS.
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) January 26, 2017
México reitera su voluntad de trabajar con los Estados Unidos para lograr acuerdos en favor de ambas naciones.
In Washington, White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded to the Mexican president's announcement, saying: "We'll look for a date to schedule something in the future. We will keep the lines of communication open."
Earlier Thursday, Trump had tweeted that "If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting" in Washington D.C.
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 Wednesday he would start building a U.S.-Mexico border wall and has vowed to make Mexico pay for it. Mexico opposes the wall and has repeatedly said it won't pay.
Officials had said Mexico was "considering" canceling after the border wall announcement, but Trump appeared to beat Mexico to the punch in that game of brinkmanship.
Former foreign relations secretary Jorge Castaneda told local media that after Trump's tweet, "Pena Nieto has no other choice but to say 'I'm not going.'"
Trump's unpredictable style appeared to catch Mexico's normally quiet and cautious diplomacy off guard.
"I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter," Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade told Radio Formula.
Mexico's best-known opposition politician, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted that "in the face of Trump's latest outburst, don't go to the meeting, and submit an urgent complaint to the U.N. for human rights violations."
Trump tweeted Thursday that "If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting" in Washington D.C.
© Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has informed the White House he has canceled his planned trip to Washington.
LT, Mexico, Trump
Thursday, 26 January 2017 12:02 PM