Trump to meet Mexico leader after wall row

DONALD TRUMP was making a surprise trip to Mexico today to meet the country’s president before delivering a key speech on immigration.

The Republican White House candidate and President Enrique Peña Nieto have clashed in the past over Mr Trump’s call for Mexico to pay for a wall on the border to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into America.

Last year he accused Mexico of “sending people [to the US] that have lots of problems”, adding: “They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and their rapists.”

Mr Peña Nieto has ruled out Mexico paying for a border wall and in March compared Mr Trump’s language to that of Hitler and Mussolini.

He struck a different tone last night, writing on Twitter: “I believe in dialogue to promote Mexico’s interests in the world and, principally, to protect Mexicans wherever they are.”

Mr Trump tweeted that he looks “very much forward” to the meeting, which be held in private after the Mexic an leader invited both the Republican and his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to visit the country.

In recent meetings with Hispanic supporters, Mr Trump has suggested he could c h a n ge h i s h a rd l i n e approach on immigration.

The billionaire property tycoon did not mention the Mexico trip at a rally outside Seattle last night, but he did refer to his scheduled speech on immigration, in Phoenix this evening. “We are also going to secure our border and stop the drugs from pouring in and destroying our country,” he said. “And I’ll be talking about that tomorrow night in Arizona.”

Mr Trump’s ratings have slipped since last month, with Mrs Clinton ahead nationally and in key states.