President Trump said he had a “very friendly call” Friday with the president of Mexico amid tensions over his plans to build a wall along the border, and he vowed to work on a “fair” relationship for the U.S.
“We’re no longer going to be the country that doesn’t know what it’s doing,” Mr. Trump said in his first press conference. “The United States cannot continue to lose vast amounts of business. That won’t happen with me.”
In a joint statement after the call Mr. Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said their hourlong call included areas they agree on, such as stopping drug cartels and arms trafficking.
But they also broached the thorny topic of Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, which have sparked a severe backlash from Mexicans.
“With respect to payment for the border wall, both presidents recognize their clear and very public differences of positions on this issue but have agreed to work these differences out as part of a comprehensive discussion on all aspects of the bilateral relationship,” the two countries said in their joint statement.
In his press conference Mr. Trump said Mexico “has out-negotiated us and beat us to a pulp.”
“They’ve made us look foolish,” Mr. Trump said. “I’m not going to let that happen. I represent the people o the united states, and I’m going to represent them as somebody should represent them.”
Mr. Trump had been slated to meet Mr. Pena Nieto at the White House next week but the Mexican leader said he scratched that get-together Thursday to protest Mr. Trump’s policies.
Mr. Trump warned that he might impose a tax on Mexican imports to pay for the border wall.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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