After Trump tweets, Mexico insists again that it's not going to pay for the wall
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Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement the country will not, “under any circumstances,” pay for Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
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President Trump, take heed: Mexico wants nothing to do with your proposed border wall.
“As the Mexican government has always stated, our country will not pay, under any circumstances, for a wall or physical barrier built on U.S. territory along the Mexican border,” Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement released Sunday. “This statement is not part of a Mexican negotiating strategy, but rather a principle of national sovereignty and dignity.”
The statement comes in response to the president’s tweets on Sunday, in which he said that the country would pay for the barrier through reimbursements.
With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
Mexico also addressed the president’s assertions about its crime rates, saying that it was a “shared problem.” The only way to end it was to address its causes: high demand for drugs in the United States and supply from Mexico and other countries.
“Transnational criminal organizations have killed thousands of Mexicans, including members of the Armed Forces and police officers, and thousands of Americans,” the ministry wrote. “Only on the basis of the principles of shared responsibility, teamwork and mutual trust will we be able to overcome this challenge.”
The president also suggested via Twitter that the United States could pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he criticized long before he took office.Â
We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017
Mexico said it would not renegotiate the deal over social media or other platforms. The second round of renegotiation talks are set to take place in Mexico City later this week.
“Mexico’s position at the renegotiation table of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will continue to be serious and constructive, always putting our national interests first, and seeking a beneficial result whereby the three North American countries win,” the ministry wrote.
Mexico’s Sunday statements are in line with what has already been publicly stated by the country several times before. A recently leaked phone conversation between Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto revealed Trump had asked Mexico’s leader to soften public opposition to the wall back in January. Peña Nieto retorted that his country wouldn’t pay for the barrier.
