Former President Bill Clinton assailed Donald Trump's recent impromptu visit to Mexico as misleading and warned it might endanger trust in the United States by allies around the world.
During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Friday for his wife, Clinton said that Trump should have been pressed more about the Mexico trip during a forum earlier this week that centered on national security.
"He said his trip was a success because the finance minister got fired," Clinton said. "The finance minister lost his job because he wanted Mr. Trump to come down there."
During the forum, Trump alluded to the recent resignation of Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray.
"If you look at what happened, look at the aftermath today, the people who arranged the trip in Mexico have been forced out of government," Trump said. "That's how well we did, and that's how well we're going to have to do."
The sudden resignation of Videgaray, who reportedly lobbied hard to invite Trump to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, fueled furious speculation in Mexico that it was because of Trump's visit.
The Republican nominee has called for a wall to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border _ vowing that Mexico will pay for it _ but in subdued remarks in Mexico City last week, he made no mention of it in his prepared statement.
And that rankled former President Clinton.
"If you want to be president, you have to say the same things at home and abroad. You can't go to some place and make it look like everything's going to be nice, and come back and jump all over them, because it makes people all over the world not trust America," Clinton said in Pennsylvania on Friday.
He added, "I always favored the toughest language face-to-face, in private. And then try to avoid embarrassing people. By all means, tell the same story at home and abroad. If you don't, it gets you in real trouble."
