WASHINGTON — Officials are working to arrange a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto “in the near future” to review progress on trade talks, a border wall and other issues, the White House said in a recent statement
Mexico’s foreign ministry said in mid-February a meeting between the two leaders was being planned for sometime during the next few weeks. But this week saw the announcement of the planned resignation of U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson and more sniping between Washington and Mexico City, casting some shadows on the hoped-for meeting between Trump and Peña Nieto.
The U.S. and Mexico, along with Canada, are renegotiating the North American free trade agreement, which Trump has threatened to pull out of unless significant changes are made.
Trump has also vowed to build a wall along the southern border to prevent Illegal immigration and to make Mexico pay for it, a demand Mexico has emphatically rejected.
Trump had his first meeting as president with Peña Nieto last July on the sidelines of a G20 summit. Peña Nieto canceled an earlier scheduled meeting after Trump threatened to impose a tax on Mexican imports to pay for his border wall. Trump also met the Mexican leader once during the 2016 U.S. Election campaign.
U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, met at the White House with a Mexican delegation led by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray.
“The meeting furthered the work of both governments over the past year to establish comprehensive agreements on several issues, including economic cooperation and trade, security and law enforcement, energy, regional initiatives, and immigration,” the White House statement said.
With information from Reuters News Agency and other sources
