Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto: Summit cancelled
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto has scrapped a planned summit with Donald Trump in the face of insistent tweets from the U.S. president demanding Mexico pay for a border wall.
Pena Nieto, responding to a Twitter message from Trump saying it would be better for him not to come to the meeting if Mexico would not pay for the wall, said in his own tweet that he would not attend and had informed the White House of this.
"This morning we informed the White House that I will not attend the work meeting planned for next Tuesday with the POTUS," Pena Nieto said on Twitter, referring to Trump.
"Mexico reiterates its willingness to work with the United States to reach accords that favor both nations."
Pena Nieto condemned Trump's move to build a border wall, and insisted that his country has no intention of paying for it.
"I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us," President Pena Nieto said in a brief televised message on Wednesday.
"Mexico does not believe in walls. I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall," he said, referring to Trump's vow to make his southern neighbour pay for the barrier.
Trump's plan has also been roundly condemned by other Latin American leaders .
"Mexico gives and demands respect as the completely sovereign nation that we are," Pena Nieto stated.
He said he would wait for a report from a high-level Mexican delegation holding meetings in the United States capital this week and consult governors and MPs before deciding on "the next steps to take."
Pena Nieto said he had ordered Mexico's 50 consulates in the United States to act as legal counsel for the rights of Mexican migrants.
"Our communities are not alone. The government of Mexico will offer legal counsel that will guarantee the protection they need," he stated.
Trump later presented the scrapped plan as a mutual agreement.
Addressing Republican members of Congress at a meeting in Philadelphia, he said he and Pena Nieto had agreed to cancel the meeting, adding it would be fruitless if Mexico did not treat the United States “fairly”.
“I’ve said many times that the American people will not pay for the wall,” Trump told the gathering. “Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless and I want to go a different route.”
The White House left open the door for a possible rapprochement: White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the United States was keeping open lines of communication with Mexico and looking to reschedule the meeting, which had been planned for Tuesday.
Trump views the wall, a major promise during his election campaign, as part of a package of measures to curb illegal immigration. Mexico has long insisted it will not pay for such a project.
Trump, who took office last Friday, signed an executive order for construction of the wall on Wednesday, just as a Mexican delegation led by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray arrived at the White House for talks with Trump aides aimed at healing ties.
"A nation without borders is not a nation. Starting today, the United States gets back control of its borders," he stated.
The timing of that, and Trump’s reiterated call for Mexico to foot the bill, caused outrage in Mexico, with prominent politicians and many on social media seeing that as a deliberate snub to the government’s efforts to engage with Trump, who has for months used Mexico as a political punching bag.