Trump threatens Mexico U.S. will pull out of NAFTA

PALM BEACH, FLA. — U.S. President Donald Trump declared Sunday that a deal to help “Dreamer” immigrants was “NO MORE” and threatened to pull out of a free-trade agreement with Mexico unless it does more to stop people from crossing into the U.S. He claimed they’re coming to take advantage of protections granted certain immigrants.

“NO MORE DACA DEAL!” Trump tweeted one hour after he started the day by wishing his followers a “HAPPY EASTER!”

He also said Mexico must “stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!” The United

States, Canada and Mexico are renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement at Trump’s insistence. Trump says NAFTA is bad for the United States.

“Mexico has got to help us at the border,” Trump told reporters before he attended Easter services at an Episcopal church near his Palm Beach, Fla., home, as he held his wife, Melania’s, hand. “If they’re not going to help us at the border, it’s a very sad thing between our two countries.

“A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA,” he added.

Former president Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to protect from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are living in the United States illegally after they were brought here as children.

Trump ended the program last year, but gave Congress six months to pass legislation enshrining it.

A deal has so far proved elusive and Trump has blamed Democrats for that.

It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to when he said people are coming to take advantage of the program, which granted the immigrants work permits.

The Department of Homeland Security is not issuing new permits, though existing ones can be renewed. Anyone who wanted to participate in the program had a set period of time during which to sign up, and the program is no longer open to new entrants.

Proposed DACA deals crafted by lawmakers also were not open to new participants.

Trump did not explain what he meant when reporters asked as he entered the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with the first lady and Tiffany Trump, his daughter from his second marriage.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

Trump, who addressed reporters briefly before entering the church, again blamed Democrats for failing to protect the “Dreamers.”

“They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it. They had a great, great chance, but we’ll have to take a look because Mexico has got to help us at the border. They flow right through Mexico. They send them into the United States. It can’t happen that way anymore.”

The church visit was Trump’s first public appearance with the first lady since CBS “60 Minutes” aired an interview last Sunday with adult film star Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Trump in 2006, early in his marriage and a few months after the first lady had given birth to their son. The White House says Trump denies the affair.

The Trumps were returning to Washington later Sunday.