Donald Trump, Enrique Pena Spar Over Border Wall, Mexican President Cancels WH Visit
President Donald Trump’s phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto over the long-debated border wall has led to Peña Nieto canceling his planned visit to the White House.
According to the Washington Post, the two world leaders sparred over the touchy subject on Saturday, ending with the postponement of what would have been Peña Nieto’s first Oval Office visit under the Trump administration.
Reports are Trump lost his temper and vehemently opposed the idea of publicly affirming Mexico’s position that it would not fund construction of the massive wall he has vowed to construct along the U.S.-Mexico border ever since he launched his presidential campaign in 2016.
In the most recent budget proposal he submitted to Congress, Trump sought some $23 billion for construction of the project.
“The two leaders agreed now was not the immediate right time for a visit but that they would have their teams continue to talk and work together,” said a source.
Peña Nieto previously canceled an earlier meeting between the two after rejecting Trump’s push to impose a tax on Mexican imports to pay for the wall.
CNN reports the upcoming meeting between the two was set for sometime in March and was officially called off by Peña Nieto.
Sources added both men seemed immovable in terms of their positions, with Trump being unwilling to provide any public assurances to the Mexican president and Peña Nieto resolute in his determination “to avoid public embarrassment” at the hands of Trump.
Talk of a border security wall has remained a key item for Trump’s political base of supporters, even as it has seemingly driven a wedge through much of the country.
Congressional leaders are now facing an early March deadline for coming up with a solution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects against the deportation of young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Known as Dreamers, roughly 690,000 immigrants are now enrolled in the federal program.
