U.S. President Donald Trump said his meeting in Washington with his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was a “great meeting.”
MIAMI Fla. (Telemundo news) – Donald Trump said in an interview with Telemundo Network from Miami, Florida, “President López Obrador and I had a great day two days ago, and together we are doing many good things for our countries”. He also repeated the praise he gave during his speech at the White House: “He’s a fabulous man, he’s like a friend of mine, he’s become a friend almost from the start”.
Even Trump said he gets along better with AMLO than with his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto (2012-2018), who invited him to the residence of Los Pinos in Mexico City in August 2016 before he became the U.S. president, in the election campaign.
“We did not get along, or in theory, we should have gotten along better”. Asked about his previous statements regarding imposing extra tariffs on Mexico if it did not control the drug cartels, he said he maintained his position, but that progress had been made. “That is true. I am not going to change it. But we’ve made much progress. We signed the USMCA”.
Despite this, he assured the construction of the border fence continues and that the hardening of the migration policies is working.
“We have built the wall, up to 250 miles. That now continues, we build approximately 7 miles a week. And we will have almost 500 miles soon. And the fence has had a significant impact on the border, so the border is a very different place. Very few people are crossing”.
He also mentioned that Mexico was supporting 27,000 soldiers on the southern border to stop migration, while he revered the construction of the wall between both nations.
For his part, Lopez Obrador said that Trump “has changed his treatment” of Mexicans, and insisted that he is their “friend,” but stressed that he would not invite him to visit again because “there are elections” pending in the United States.
“We are going to wait for the results, we couldn’t do it anymore (a meeting in Mexico), but we are going to wait, that’s not what we are getting into either, it’s a matter for the Americans to decide. What I can comment on is that the relationship with President Trump is excellent”.
“Was it worth the trip despite the criticism? “Yes,” said the Mexican leader. “Above all, because we bet on good relations, on not fighting, on seeking coincidences and promoting cooperation for development, not only between Mexico and the United States but also between Canada and the region,” AMLO said.
However, in López Obrador’s opinion, despite considering the trip a success, he is against further trips abroad. “And I maintain that the best foreign policy is domestic policy,” he said. In 19 months of government, the Mexican has barely left the country once, and he did so this week at the White House.
