At G-20, Trump insists Mexico will pay for wall
HAMBURG, Germany— In his first meeting as president with his Mexican counterpart, Donald Trump on Friday said he “absolutely” intends for Mexico to pay for the controversial wall hewants to build along the United States’ southern border, setting off a furor in Mexico over a goal his own administration has largely abandoned.
Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit here, amid sharp disagreements over trade and immigration. Some officials had hoped the brief encounter could help heal badly strained relations between the two neighbors.
The proposed wall continues tomake that difficult.
As journalists were allowed in to see the two leaders take their seats, one reporter asked Trump if he still wanted Mexico to pay for thewall. “Absolutely,” Trump said. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for a new border barrier, and Trump’s words set off a furious reaction in Mexico City.
Mexican officials, however, decided to ignore the remark, at least publicly.
Pena Nieto didn’t hear Trump’s exchange with the reporter, and there was no discussion of thewall in the private talks that followed, Mexican officials said.
Whether Pena Nieto and his delegation really didn’t hear the comment, Mexican officials were privately angry that Trump responded the way he did. The president easily could have ignored the question, one Mexican official said. A little more than an hour after the meeting with the Mexican delegation, Trump ignored reporters’ questions at the opening of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s statement was consistent with the campaign rhetoric, but not with what his administration actually has done. In March, the administration asked Congress for $4.1 billion to begin construction on additional border fencing and walls, conceding that Mexico would not be paying for it.
“It’s coming out of the Treasury,” budget director Mick Mulvaney said.
Brian Bennett reported from Hamburg, Tracy Wilkinson from Washington. Cecilia Sanchez contributed from Mexico City.