President Trump said on Twitter this morning that “if Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting” with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Hours later, Peña Nieto did just that. His spokesman tells NPR’s Carrie Kahn in Mexico City that the president has canceled Tuesday’s visit to Washington D.C., without elaborating.
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that moves ahead with his plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico — a policy he described as one in partnership with Mexico and from which both countries will benefit.
But as Carrie reports, Mexico’s leader released a video later that night in which he forcefully condemned Trump’s plan, calling it divisive. “I have repeatedly said, ‘Mexico will not pay for a wall,’ ” Peña Nieto said.
In the video, Peña Nieto had stopped short of cancelling his trip, saying he was still waiting to hear the latest from his negotiators in Washington. And as Carrie reports, he was under significant pressure from lawmakers to scrap the visit.
“We will look for a date to schedule something in the future,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters after Peña Nieto canceled. “We will keep the lines of communication open.”
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