On the heels of Donald Trump’s acceptance of the Republican presidential nomination, President Obama will give his Mexican counterpart a megaphone Friday to criticize Mr. Trump’s plans to build a border wall and restrict immigration.
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U.S. President Barack Obama, background, and Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto hold a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S. July 22, 2016.
Obama hosted Pena Nieto in Washington the day after Donald Trump accepted the Republican party’s presidential nomination with a 75-minute speech in which he warned of an escalating murder rate in major U.S. cities and said that 180,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal records roam the nation’s streets.
This visit comes after the two leaders met during the North American Leaders’ Summit in Canda in late June.
The White House would neither confirm nor deny if this bilateral meeting was intentionally timed to come on the heels of the Republican National Convention. But at the White House Friday, his tone was more diplomatic.
Obama joked with reporters that he didn’t watch the convention because he’s “got a lot of stuff to do”, but continued to blast the past week’s GOP spectacle in Cleveland as a display of paranoia unbound by truth. Many said Trump’s references to Mexican immigrants, calling them “rapists” and “killers”, has offended them. They also announced the inaugural meeting of the U.S. -Mexico Energy Business Council in the fall and another engagement before February to promote investment in clean energy.
Obama is set to address the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, as Hillary Clinton is formally set to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.
Pena Nieto has been outspoken in his distaste for Trump, comparing the GOP nominee to fascist dictators Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
But Pena Nieto said on Friday that he had “never done any finger-pointing” about a U.S. candidate and that his March remarks were “taken out of context”. “This isn’t common, but it illustrates the extraordinary moment in the relationship between the two nations”.
The United States and Mexico are working together to combat problems caused by illegal drugs, as well as organized crime, according to Obama.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, for his part, tried to exercise restraint, saying he is ready to work with whoever prevails in the presidential election.
President Obama dismissed Donald Trump’s criticism of conditions in the United States on Friday, saying crime is actually down, the economy is up, and most Americans believe things are going relatively well. Mexico’s leader has also said Trump’s stance is hurting his country’s relations with the USA, and that Mexico will not pay for a border wall.
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“We’re not going to be able to build a wall around that”, Obama said.
