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Mexican
President Cancels Trump Meeting
By Sunita
Patel-Carstairs
January 26, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- "SKY"
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Mexico's president has said he will not meet Donald
Trump next week amid a deepening war of words over US
plans for a border wall.
The American leader had earlier threatened to cancel the
Washington talks due to Enrique Pena Nieto's refusal to
pay for the controversial barrier.
President
Trump, who is in Philadelphia to meet top Republicans,
tweeted: "The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit
with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the
beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers...
"... of jobs
and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for
the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel
the upcoming meeting."
Mr Pena Nieto
has now hit back, tweeting: "This morning we have
informed the White House that I will not attend the
meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the @POTUS."
The
relationship between the two countries has been strained
since President Trump promised the construction of a
2,000-mile wall along the border with Mexico
and insisted the US neighbour would "100%" pay
for it.
But in a
televised message to his country, Mr Pena Nieto
reasserted that Mexico would not pay a single peso
towards it.
"I have said it
time and again: Mexico will not pay for any wall," he
said.
He did not
mention the Washington meeting in his address, but he
had faced growing calls to scrap it himself.
Mr Trump would
need to get approval from Congress for any new funding
for the wall - with costs estimated at £5.2m ($6.5m) per
mile for a single-layer fence by the Government
Accountability Office.
Soon after the
President tweeted, House Speaker Paul Ryan said the wall
will cost between $12bn (£9.5bn) to $15bn (£12bn).
He added he
expected the move to get congressional approval by the
end of September.
Former Mexican
president Vicente Fox Quesada, who had already slammed
the project earlier on Twitter resumed his social media
assault.
Responding to
the billionaire's ultimatum, he wrote: "Donald, don't be
self-indulgent. Mexico has spoken, we will never ever
pay for the #F******Wall."
Mexico stunned by Donald Trump
tweet on canceling trip:
: Trump tweeted Thursday that “If Mexico is unwilling to
pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better
to cancel the upcoming meeting” in Washington D.C.
White House:
Trump calling for 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico
to pay for southern border wall:
White House spokesman Sean Spicer says Trump has
discussed the idea with congressional leaders and wants
to include the measure in a comprehensive tax reform
package.
The views
expressed in this article are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Information Clearing House. |
