Republican candidate says they didn’t talk about who would pay for proposed border wall
MEXICO CITY— Donald Trump eased his rhetoric on signature campaign promises regarding trade and immigration following a meeting Wednesday with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The Republican presidential nominee, who has promised to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, said Wednesday he didn’t discuss who would pay for the wall during his meeting with Mr. Peña Nieto, which lasted about an hour. He has repeatedly said he would make Mexico pay for its construction.
“We discussed the wall,” Mr. Trump said. “We didn’t discuss payment of the wall.”
Mr. Trump and Peña Nieto delivered prepared statements at side-by-side podiums and briefly took shouted questions from reporters at the conclusion of the event.
In his comments, Mr. Trump also said he’d aim to “improve” the North American Free Trade Agreement, an accord he has said he would cancel if elected president. He also said he would aim to keep manufacturing “in our hemisphere,” referring to North America. On the campaign trail, he has promised to keep jobs in the U.S. and punish companies that move to Mexico.
Mr. Peña Nieto, meanwhile, delivered a condemnation of several of Mr. Trump’s campaign proposals without criticizing the American by name, and emphasized cooperation between the countries.
“Mexicans felt offended by what was said” during the campaign, Mr. Peña Nieto said. The Mexican president, in his remarks, defended NAFTA, said illegal immigration was at a 10-year low, and economic activity in the two nations benefit each other.
On NAFTA, Mr. Peña Nieto called the pact a boon to U.S. economy, but said he is willing to “modernize” it.
In their public remarks, both the Mexican president and the American presidential candidate described their meeting as polite but blunt. Mr. Trump said it was “a great honor” to be invited to Los Pinos, the official residence of the Mexican president, while Mr. Peña Nieto said Mr. Trump demonstrated his willingness to work with Mexico by visiting the country.
Mr. Trump, reading from notes, said he told Mr. Peña Nieto that NAFTA has benefited Mexico far more than it has the U.S. Mr. Peña Nieto said his priority is “to protect Mexicans, wherever they are.”
Mr. Trump’s surprise visit to Mexico was the latest twist in a presidential campaign that has defied political tradition. His campaignannounced the trip the night before it took place, and comes hours before Mr. Trump is due to deliver a policy speech outlining his immigration policy.
Though restricting immigration has been a signature element of his campaign, Mr. Trump in recent weeks has sought to walk back proposals to create a “deportation force” to remove 11 million illegal immigrants and their American-born children. Mr. Trump said on Fox News last week that he would only seek to remove illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.
Mr. Trump’s allies say the visit is a move to show leadership on his key domestic policy issue.
In an interview on CNN Wednesday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said the visit marked the “beginning of a conversation” with Mexico, which will be followed by negotiations once Mr. Trump is elected and in the White House.
Mr. Trump launched his campaign with unflattering comments about Mexican immigrants. In addition to declaring Mexico will pay for a border wall and promising to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Trump also labeled some Mexican immigrants to the U.S. as “rapists.”
In May, Mr. Trump said U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana, couldn’t fairly adjudicate civil lawsuits over the defunct Trump University because of his Mexican heritage.
Mr. Trump’s approval numbers have suffered among Hispanic voters in the wake of these remarks. While Mitt Romney won support from 27% of Hispanic voters in 2012, Mr. Trump is at near half that level, according to recent polling.
Mr. Trump trails Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in polling in each of the 11 battleground states that will decide the general election. His weakness among Hispanic voters has damaged his standing in Colorado, Nevada and Florida, and made Arizona competitive—a heavily Republican state where the Clinton campaign this month opened two offices and invested more than $100,000 in field staffers to register voters and boost Democratic turnout.
But since installing his third set of top campaign staff since May, Mr. Trump has made direct appeals to Hispanic and black audiences, suggesting that long-term policies favored by Democrats and Mrs. Clinton are directly responsible for crime and unemployment in urban black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
The Republican presidential nominee’s visit was met with anger in Mexico City, where Trump piñatas have become a big seller in the past year. The capital’s municipal legislative assembly passed a motion on Wednesday declaring Mr. Trump “persona non grata.” Senators from both the left-wing and conservative opposition also criticized the visit and said Mr. Trump wasn’t welcome.
A few dozen protesters gathered at the country’s independence monument along a main boulevard in Mexico City to rail against Mr. Trump.
“He’s not welcome in Mexico because of the statements he made in the past,” said Erick Valdepeñas, a 26-year old lawyer.
Mr. Peña Nieto and his aides had debated in the past how to respond to the real estate mogul, with many aides suggesting he take an aggressive stand against him, according to a person familiar with the meetings. But the president has said he shouldn’t take sides in a U.S. election and instead should appear above the fray, that person said.
Culled from WSJ – Write to Reid J. Epstein at Reid.Epstein@wsj.com, Santiago Perez atsantiago.perez@wsj.com and David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com
Leave a Reply