Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto clarified a statement made by Donald Trump during their joint press conference, and said that he “made it clear” that Mexico will not pay for the wall the New York tycoon wants to build.
Mr Trump held a private meeting with the Mexican president Wednesday afternoon, followed by a joint press conference where he said the issue of a border wall did come up, but they did not talk about who would foot the bill.
“At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump,” the Mexican president tweeted Wednesday evening, “I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.”
In response, the Trump campaign issued a statement.
“Today was the first part of the discussion and a relationship builder between Mr Trump and President Peña Nieto,” said senior communications advisor Jason Miller. “It was not a negotiation, and that would have been inappropriate.”
“It is unsurprising that they hold two different views on this issue, and we look forward to continuing the conversation.”
The Hillary Clinton campaign bashed Donald Trump’s last-minute visit to Mexico, and said “he got beat in the room and lied about it”.
“Donald Trump has made his outlandish policy of forcing Mexico to pay for his giant wall the centrepiece of his campaign,” said Hillary for America chair John Podesta. “But at the first opportunity to make good on his offensive campaign promises, Trump choked.”
He continued: “What we saw today from a man who claims to be the ultimate ‘deal maker’ is that he doesn’t have the courage to advocate for his campaign promises when he’s not in front of a friendly crowd. We know who he is.”
Prior to the appearance, Ms Clinton took aim at Mr Trump for his “dropping in” on Mexico.
“You don’t build a coalition by insulting our friends or acting like a loose cannon. You do it by putting in the slow, hard work of building relationships,” the former Secretary of State said at an event in Cincinnati.
“It’s more than a photo op,” she added. “And it certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbours a few hours and then flying home again. That is not how it works.”
Mr Trump is expected to deliver a major speech on immigration in Arizona later Wednesday evening.
