Within hours of Trump’s visit, a controversy erupted after his claim of not having discussed who would pay for constructing the wall was disputed by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
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Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles President Alfonso Aguilar told CNN he felt disappointed and misled by Trump and his campaign after recent speculation the Republican nominee would soften his stance on undocumented immigrants. Many business groups that traditionally support the GOP seek higher levels of legal immigration. “When I am president, I am going to look at every trade deal we have across the world and see what steps must be taken to protect American jobs and create new opportunities for the American worker”. Trump said he’d oppose allowing in immigrants from countries with a history of terrorism and, on his campaign website, he calls for companies to hire unemployed Americans before importing foreign workers on visas. “So I wouldn’t presume to tell him what to do”.
That was not a minor point, but rather a sore one.
He then repeated the sentiment on Twitter early Thursday morning, saying, “Mexico will pay for the wall!” “But they’re going to pay for the wall”.
“I repeat what I told you personally, Mr. Trump: Mexico will never pay for a wall”, Peña Nieto tweeted.
In Mexico City, Trump sounded unusually measured.
In his speech, Trump emphasized that his priority would be to quickly deport those among the undocumented population who have committed serious crimes.
He said all people in the United States illegally would have “only one route” to gain legal status if Trump were to win the Nov 8 presidential election: “To return home and apply for re-entry”.
Citizens United is best known for bringing the Supreme Court case that dramatically scaled back regulations on unions and corporations regarding political spending independent of campaigns for Congress and president.
In his annual state-of-the-nation report, and in a video broadcast before he took questions, Pena Nieto mostly tried to put forth a rosier vision for Mexico.
With Conway seeming to be ascendant, one could easily imagine the day ending with a very different speech in Phoenix. It reflected the tortured debate between Trump and his advisers over how to position the unconventional candidate in the general election – a debate that rages on, even with just over two months until Election Day.
She says the kind words Trump spoke about Mexican Americans didn’t provide any consolation.
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Eventually he lumped rival Hillary Clinton in with undocumented criminals and mused about whether he should deport her, too. Conway seemed to have found just the right moment to raise her candidate’s acceptability score in contrast with his opponent.
