Ever since candidate Donald Trump announced that if elected president of the United States he would build a border wall and get Mexico to pay for it, this country’s chief executive, Enrique Peña Nieto, has vigorously avowed that not one centavo will be contributed toward its cost.
There has been absolute unanimity across party lines on the issue of the proposed wall and repudiation at the repeated threats to force Mexico to foot the bill.
Therefore it was not surprising that this week’s release of a leaked transcript of a phone call Trump had with Peña Nieto shortly after he took office in January revealed that the Mexican president had not changed his point of view on the wall.
What is curious from the transcripts, published Thursday by the Washington Post, is that Trump made attempts to persuade his Mexican counterpart to stop saying publicly that Mexico would not pay for the wall.
At one point in the conversation, Peña Nieto tells the U.S.. president, “My position has been and will continue to be very firm saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall.”
“You cannot say that to the press,” Trump responds. ”The press is going to go with that and I cannot live with that. You cannot say that to the press because I cannot negotiate under those circumstances.”
Trump continues: “If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.”
Later in the conversation, Trump appeared to acknowledge Peña Nieto’s tricky political situation regarding the wall, but stressed he is committed to keeping his promise to his base.
“The fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall. I have to,” he said.
Despite some rambling talk from Trump and some strong admonishment about Mexico’s “bad hombres” who are sending drugs north and killing U.S. communities, Peña Nieto remained cordial and articulate throughout the call and even made efforts to reach a comfortable impasse over the wall issue.
“I understand this critical point and I understand the critical political position that this constitutes for your country and for you, Mr. President,” Peña Nieto said. “Let us look for a creative way to jump over this obstacle.”
The rest of the conversation – mostly commandeered and directed by Trump – covered the bilateral trade deficit, the possibility of imposing border taxes on Mexican products, Mexico’s urgent need to tackle its drug trafficking problems and putting a brake on illegal immigration. The entire call centered on Mexican issues that Trump considers harmful to the wellbeing of the United States. Only once did Peña Nieto raise the problem of illegal money and weapons entering Mexico from the United States, an issue that Trump chose to ignore.
Reaction in Mexico to the leaked transcript was swift. Predictably, opposition politicians pointed out that Peña Nieto had allowed himself to be bullied by Trump and had shown weakness.
“The dressing down Trump gave to Peña Nieto was not only shameful to him but the entire country,” said Dolores Padierna Luna, coordinator for the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in the Chamber of Deputies.
The president of the Senate, Pablo Escudero, said the transcript highlights Trump’s “authoritarianism,” and shows exactly how difficult it will be for Peña Nieto to deal with him.
Toward the end of the conversation, Trump strangely praised the Mexican president’s “beautiful words” and concluded by telling Peña Nieto that he wants him to be “so popular that your people will call for a constitutional amendment in Mexico so that you can run again for another six years.”