Mexican President defies Trump, cancels US trip over proposed wall

Some hours after newly sworn-in American President, Donald Trump ordered Mexican President Erique Pena Nieto to cancel his proposed visit to Washington if he is not willing to foot the bill for the proposed wall, the Mexican leader has decided to cancel his trip.

President Nieto decided to cancel a scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump next week amid a deepening dispute over a border wall promised by America’s new leader.

“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 favour both nations.”

Trump escalated a cross border war of words, when he took to Twitter to publicly inundate his Mexican counterpart.

Read also: Latin American leaders condemn Trump’s proposed Mexico wall

“If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting”, Trump had stated.

Trump had earlier ordered officials to begin to “plan, design and construct a physical wall” along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) US-Mexico border in order to stem immigration which was a central plank of Trump’s election campaign.

Trump’s decision put Nieto under fierce domestic pressure to retaliate which he did when he condemned the decision by the American President in a video message broadcast on national TV.

“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,” Pena Nieto said.

“I have said it time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall,” he added.

 

 

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