Mexico's president was about to meet with Donald Trump. Not anymore.
Mexico’s president canceled his upcoming visit the White House just one day after Donald Trump signed orders to begin construction on his proposed wall along the United States’ Southern border.
President Enrique Peña Nieto announced on Thursday that he had notified the White House he would no longer be meeting with President Trump this coming Tuesday.
The move comes after Peña Nieto declared—yet again—that despite Trump’s plans to move forward with the construction of his border wall, Mexico would neither pay, nor reimburse the United States for the project. In response, Trump on Thursday suggested that perhaps “it would be better” if Peña Nieto scrubbed the scheduled summit between the two heads of state.
Trump and Peña Nieto famously met in Mexico City during then candidate-Trump’s presidential campaign last summer, where—following a painfully awkward joint press conference—Trump insisted neither of them had discussed payment for the wall—a claim immediately denied by the Mexican president.
It remains unclear whether efforts are being made to salvage the planned meeting, although given both Trump’s and Peña Nieto’s stubbornness regarding the proposed wall, odds aren’t looking good.