Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has canceled a meeting with President Trump that was scheduled for next week, as tensions between the two countries rise. The move came after Trump announced plans Wednesday to expand the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico—a wall Trump has repeatedly said he would force Mexico to pay for. On Thursday, Mexico’s top diplomat was at the White House to help pave the way for the visit, when his team received word of a Trump tweet suggesting that if Mexico were not willing to pay for the wall, it should cancel the trip. Trump claims the two leaders mutually canceled the upcoming meeting, a statement Peña Nieto has refuted. This is former Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Vicente Fox: “It is stupid. It is crazy. Imagine him going to Congress and saying to the American Congress to authorize a budget, to lend money to build a useless wall, a wall that is a complete waste of money and which is useless. And he tells Congress not to worry: 'I will get Mexico to replace the money. Mexico will pay for it.' Well, Trump, here you go.”
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the U.S. would impose a 20 percent tax on all goods imported from Mexico and use the proceeds to pay for the expanded border wall. But after widespread outrage at the plan, Spicer walked back his statements only hours later, saying the import tax was just “one idea.” We’ll go to Mexico City for more on the U.S.-Mexico standoff later in the broadcast.