‘Softer’ Trump going to Mexico

Donald Trump will make a surprise trip to Mexico on Wednesday, hours before he delivers a highly anticipated speech to clarify his shifting immigration policies.

“I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Peña Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow,” Trump tweeted Tuesday moments before he spoke at a rally in Everett, Wash.

Trump has made illegal immigration and his call for a wall along the US-Mexico border a centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

He also repeatedly has vowed to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, after calling many Mexicans who entered the country illegally “murderers” and rapists,” while admitting some are “good people.”

But recently, he and his top aides have hinted that he could soften those hardline positions.

Last week, Peña Nieto — who has scoffed at Trump’s insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall — invited both Trump and Hillary Clinton to visit.

Team Trump hopes the vsit will help him dominate headlines as he tries to close a gap in national opinion polls that now favor Clinton, Reuters reported.

The Mexican president also confirmed the meeting in a tweet.

"I believe in dialogue to promote Mexico's interests in the world, and chiefly, to protect Mexicans wherever they are," he wrote

But Peña Nieto has publicly blasted Trump.

In June, he warned of the dangers of populism in a globalized world and defended comments earlier this year in which he likened Trump to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.