President Trump pulled a one-page paper from his pocket Tuesday and waved it to reporters, saying it contained the details of the secret side agreement he says he struck with Mexico to reduce illegal immigration at the border.
As he prepared to fly to Iowa, Mr. Trump told reporters he’s eager to show them what is on the paper, but said he has to wait for the Mexican administration to announce it — and perhaps to get its legislature’s approval.
“Right here is the agreement, very simple,” the president said.
He has suggested that the U.S. and Mexico agreed to things beyond what was written in the joint declaration Friday announcing Mexico would deploy thousands of national police to the border region, and would host some Central Americans who reached the U.S. but whom American authorities want to make wait outside the country as their immigration cases proceed.
Mr. Trump left a conflicted impression of who is driving the secret agreement and when the public might see it.
“It will go into effect when Mexico tells me it’s okay to release it,” he said at one point in talking to reporters. “If they bring the numbers way down, we won’t.”
But moments later he called the side agreement “my option.”
“It goes into effect when I want it to,” he said.
Mexico’s foreign minister has denied the existence of any side agreement beyond what was in the written declaration.
In the U.S., officials in the president’s Cabinet have tried to skirt the issue, saying it’s not their place to get out in front of Mr. Trump and any announcement.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday took another victory lap over the Mexico deal, saying it took his threat of tariffs to get the Mexican administration to take steps to cut the flow of people crossing its border.
“Two weeks ago, I’ll tell you what we had. We had nothing,” the president said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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