A phone call amid border tensions
Trump and Mexico’s president have a ‘constructive’ talk about differences.
MEXICO CITY — Amid an escalating crisis between neighboring nations, President Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto had a “constructive” and “productive” telephone conversation early Friday.
The two presidents spoke for about an hour, according to near-identical official statements from both presidential press offices.
The conversation seemed a clear effort to tone down rising tensions a day after Mexico’s leader canceled plans to meet with Trump in Washington next week. Peña Nieto scrapped the visit following Trump’s insistence that Mexico foot the bill to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The two presidents “had a productive and constructive call” and “recognize their clear and very public differences” about who would pay for the proposed wall, the White House said.
Both leaders “agreed to work these differences out as part of a comprehensive discussion on all aspects of the bilateral relationship,” it said.
The two chief executives also agreed for now “not to speak publicly about this controversial theme,” said the statement from the Mexican president’s office, apparently alluding to the dispute about payment for the wall.
The White House statement did not mention any agreement to limit public discussions.
Trump’s signature proposal, which would add to the 653 miles of fencing and barriers already along the 2,000-mile border, has sparked outrage in Mexico.
The government there has repeatedly rejected Trump’s insistence that Mexico would pay for it. Many Mexican commentators and average citizens view the suggestion as a humiliation.
Themes discussed in Friday’s call, the White House said, included the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico — a major concern of the Trump administration — and “the importance of the friendship between the two nations, and the need for the two nations to work together to stop drug cartels, drug trafficking and illegal guns and arms sales.”
Mexicans have been riveted by the rift between Peña Nieto and Trump, and on Friday, the country’s wealthiest businessman weighed in .
Carlos Slim, a telecommunications tycoon and the third-richest person in the world, said the new U.S. president should be expected to follow through on his campaign promises — and threats.
“There are no surprises with him” said Slim, who criticized Trump during the election campaign but had dinner with him shortly after Trump’s victory. He said the two had not spoken since the dinner.