Trump, Mexico’s Obrador get off to ‘great’ start
MEXICO CITY: US President Donald Trump and Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday they had had a ‘great’ first phone call, with the Latin American leftist offering to reduce US-bound migration.
Lopez Obrador, a fiery leftist who represents a clean break with Mexico’s political establishment, won a sweeping election victory Sunday – raising questions about the future of Mexico’s crucial relationship with its giant northern neighbor.
The politician known as ‘AMLO’ had vowed during the campaign to “put (Trump) in his place,” at a time when the Republican president’s anti-trade, anti-immigration policies have infuriated Mexico.
But the two men appear to have hit it off in their first phone call after Lopez Obrador’s victory.
“I received a phone call from Donald Trump and we spoke for half an hour,” Lopez Obrador wrote on Twitter, in one of his first messages as president-elect.
“I proposed exploring a universal deal (involving) development projects that would create jobs in Mexico and, by doing so, reduce migration and improve security,” he added.
“The tone was respectful and our teams will be holding talks.”
Trump also mentioned the phone call as he addressed reporters in the Oval Office.
“I think the relationship is going to be a very good one. We had a great talk,” he said.
“I think he is going to try and help us with the border.”
US-Mexican relations have been strained since Trump won election in 2016 after a campaign laced with anti-Mexican insults, attacks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and promises to build a wall on the two countries’ border and make Mexico pay for it. — AFP