U.S. President Donald Trump meets Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto during the their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 7, 2017. Reuters/Carlos Barria
• Mexico's president will reportedly no longer visit the White House after he argued with President Donald Trump over his long-promised border wall.
• Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto attempted to persuade Trump to publicly admit that Mexico won't pay for the border wall.
• Trump promised repeatedly during his 2016 presidential campaign that he would force Mexico to pay for it.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto reportedly backed out of plans to visit the White House after a heated argument with President Donald Trump this week over his long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border.

Trump "lost his temper" during a nearly hour-long phone call on February 20, one Mexican official told The Washington Post. Peña Nieto had tried to persuade Trump to publicly acknowledge that Mexico will refuse to pay for the border wall, as Trump repeatedly vowed during his presidential campaign.

US officials told The Post that Trump was frustrated and exasperated by the call, as Trump believed it was unfair to expect him to renege on one of his favorite campaign refrains.

A White House readout of the call made no mention of the border wall argument, instead saying that Trump and Peña Nieto exchanged condolences over recent tragedies in each leader's country — a mass shooting in Florida and a helicopter accident in Oaxaca.

Prototypes for U.S. President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico are seen behind the current border fence in this picture taken from the Mexican side of the border in Tijuana, Mexico, January 27, 2018. Reuters/Jorge Duenes "President Trump underscored his commitment to expanding cooperation between the United States and Mexico on security, trade, and immigration," the readout added.

The call marks the second time in a little more than a year that Peña Nieto and Trump have cancelled a planned meeting after an angry stand-off on the border wall.

In a January 2017 phone call, Trump told Peña Nieto he didn't want to meet with him because he "cannot live" with Peña Nieto publicly saying that Mexico wouldn't pay for the wall.

Trump urged Peña Nieto to say, "We will work it out" if either man was asked about payments for the border wall, according to a transcript obtained by The Washington Post last August.

"The fact is we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall — I have to," Trump said. "I have been talking about it for a two-year period, and the reason I say they are going to pay for the wall is because Mexico has made a fortune out of the stupidity of US trade representatives."

The leaders' latest spat comes as Mexico heads into a presidential election later this year, prompting Peña Nieto to take a tough stance on Trump's border wall and avoid appearing to acquiesce to his demands, which Mexicans overwhelmingly view as humiliating and offensive. </s> President Trump has refused to back down on his promise to make Mexico pay for a wall along the United States-Mexico border, prompting a White House trip by Mexican President Peña Nieto to be canceled.

Trump and Nieto decided to call off the planned visit in Washington, DC, after a phone conversation about the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall and how it would be paid for — in one way or another — by Mexico.

Tentative plans for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to make his first visit to the White House to meet with President Trump were scuttled this week after a testy call between the two leaders ended in an impasse over Trump’s promised border wall, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. Peña Nieto was eyeing an official trip to Washington this month or in early March, but both countries agreed to call off the plan after Trump would not agree to publicly affirm Mexico’s position that it would not fund construction of a border wall that the Mexican people widely consider offensive, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential conversation.

Since 2015, Trump has promised Americans that a border wall — currently held up in the prototype stage — would be built along the southern border to stop illegal immigration and cartel-driven drug flow into the country.

Mexico, Trump has committed, will somehow end up paying for the border wall, whether that comes in the form of taxing remittances to have illegal aliens from Mexico actually pay for the wall or tariffs on imported goods from Mexico.

Trump’s refusal to back down to Mexico on the border wall has been ongoing during his time as president. Last year, he told Nieto that he would be walking away from a deal with the country unless it included Mexico paying for the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The fact is, we are both in a little bit of a political bind because I have to have Mexico pay for the wall,” Trump told Peña Nieto, according to a transcript of the call. “I have to. I have been talking about it for a two-year period.”

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore, because I cannot live with that,” Trump continued.

Trump’s wall along the southern border is only expected to cost about $18 billion, a fraction of what American taxpayers have been paying for illegal immigration.

For example, American taxpayers are forced to pay about $116 billion annually for the cost of the estimated 12 to 30 million illegal aliens living across the U.S., as Breitbart News reported. The cost of illegal immigration to American taxpayers has risen by $3 billion since 2013. </s> Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has reportedly scrapped his plans to visit the White House after a contentious call with President Trump Donald John TrumpAccuser says Trump should be afraid of the truth Woman behind pro-Trump Facebook page denies being influenced by Russians Shulkin says he has White House approval to root out 'subversion' at VA MORE discussing his proposed border wall.

U.S. and Mexican officials familiar with the call told The Washington Post that Peña Nieto and Trump reached an impasse while discussing the wall. Peña Nieto reportedly asked Trump to publicly affirm Mexico’s stance that it will not pay for the wall, but Trump refused to cave.

A Mexican official told the paper that Trump “lost his temper” during the 50-minute call. U.S. officials said that Trump was “exasperated” and “frustrated” because he thought Peña Nieto’s expectation was unreasonable, according to the Post.

Peña Nieto’s visit was not yet confirmed, but was expected to take place sometime in the coming weeks. The Mexican president is facing a presidential election in July.

The border wall, one of Trump’s most divisive campaign promises, has been a source of contention between the two nations. Peña Nieto canceled a planned meeting with Trump in January 2017 due to conflict with Trump over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the border wall.

Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States, told The Washington Post that Trump has “painted” the relationship between the two countries “into a corner” with his insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall.

“Even from the get-go, the idea of Mexico paying for the wall was never going to fly,” Sarukhan said. “[Trump’s] relationship with Mexico isn’t strategically driven. It’s not even business; it’s personal, driven by motivations and triggers, and that’s a huge problem. It could end up with the U.S. asking itself, ‘Who lost Mexico?’ ”

Trump said repeatedly during the campaign that Mexico would foot the bill for the border wall expansion. And during a phone call in August, Trump pleaded with Peña Nieto to not say publicly that his government would not pay for the wall, according to leaked transcripts.

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that,” Trump said at the time.

Trump’s proposed framework for immigration legislation includes $25 billion in funding for the wall. </s> Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has scrapped an upcoming meeting with President Donald Trump in the wake of fiery back-and-forth over which nation will pay for a border wall between the two nations.

"This morning we informed the White House that I will not attend the business meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the @POTUS," Nieto tweeted.

Trump tweeted earlier Thursday that if Mexico refuses to pay for the wall it might be best to scrap their upcoming meeting.

Watch: Nieto tells Trump 'we do not believe in walls'

"The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers...," Trump tweeted. "If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting."

The deep divide over which country will fund Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexican border — along with the White House's pledge to withhold federal funding from so-called "sanctuary cities" — raises the stakes in the talks.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox in a video posted on Twitter implored Trump to rethink his position.

"Paisanos, @realDonaldTrump's reaction is one of fear," Fox wrote. "He's seen that México stands together and it's strong. Don't mess with us!"

A day earlier Trump, as he was unveiling his executive orders for ramped up immigration arrests and deportation and the border wall, threw in some praise for Mexico and Mexicans and declaring that the crisis on the border was due to a surge in Central Americans. During the presidential campaign, Trump's inflammatory rhetoric included calling Mexican immigrants "rapists" and accusing them of "bringing crime."

But Trump has also been threatening to reopen NAFTA, the trade agreement between Mexico, Canada and the U.S., to get a "better deal." He made that along with other trade deals the culprit for manufacturing job losses and other economic ills in the U.S.

Nieto had expressed interest in exploring the renegotiation of the 1994 agreement that predates advances in social media, telecommunications and other industries, to modernize it.

But facing some pressure at home and clearly disliking the orders from Trump, Nieto said in Spanish in a video posted on social media that Trump's wall was dividing the two nations.

He didn't explicitly say he was rethinking his visit to the U.S. next week, but said he would be speaking with elected officials and Mexico Cabinet members about the meeting.

Jon Farela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, a businees border development group, spent this week, speaking and visiting with members of Congress to provide evidence of how NAFTA has benefited both counties and areas for improvement.

"The quickest and surest way to destabilize the border is to remove jobs and hope because people will always find ways to provide for their families," said Farela, a conservative Republican and former New Mexico secretary of economic development who narrowly lost a congressional race in Albuquerque. </s> Washington, Jan 26: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday if Mexico wont pay for the wall between the two countries aimed at curbing the flow of illegal migrants into America, "it would be better" to scrap his planned visit to Mexico.

"If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting (with Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nietro)," Trump said.

"The US has a $60 billion trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers... of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting," Trump tweeted.

On Wednesday, Trump signed orders to stem illegal immigration from Mexico and secure the US border.

Though the US would initially pay for the construction, Trump vowed that Mexico will have to compensate the entire expenditures. The plan did not sit well with the Mexican leader.

"I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us," Nieto on Wednesday said in a brief televised message to his nation. Nieto stressed that his country "will not pay for any wall." </s> Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday indicated that he was considering canceling his planned Tuesday visit to the White House over President Trump's executive order calling for the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He said he would consult with lawmakers on whether to go. Mexican politicians and historians pressured Peña Nieto to snub Trump, with some using Twitter to call Trump's action "an offense to Mexico," a "slap in the face," and a "monument to lies." Peña Nieto said building a wall "far from uniting us, divides us." He also reiterated that Mexico would not pay for the wall, as Trump claims. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress would pay to get the $8 billion to $14 billion wall started, then focus on "getting Mexico to contribute." </s> Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto this week again postponed meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. over Trump’s public insistence that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall, the Washington Post reported Saturday.

The Post, citing unnamed U.S. and Mexican officials, said Peña Nieto had intended to come to Washington, D.C. in February or March to meet Trump in America for the first time since the Trump’s inauguration. The paper noted the pair met during the G20 summit in Germany in July of last year (pictured above).

But, the sources said, the plans were called off after Trump “would not agree to publicly affirm Mexico’s position” on the border wall — namely, that Mexico isn’t paying for it — during a phone call with Peña Nieto.

An unnamed Mexican official said Trump “lost his temper” over the dispute, the Post reported. Unnamed U.S. officials said Trump was frustrated and exasperated by the exchange.

An unnamed Mexican official added that Peña Nieto’s team was worried Trump would answer a question about funding the border wall during a press conference.

The same stalemate occurred just over a year ago, when Peña Nieto announced he would not be going to Washington to meet Trump as planned. Trump tweeted at the time: “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”

Soon after, the Washington Post published the transcript of a call between the two leaders in which Trump said that the issue of who was actually paying for a border wall “is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about.” </s> (CNN) -- Mexico's top diplomat has said the suggestion that his government would pay for President Donald Trump's planned border wall was "totally unacceptable," leading to the cancellation of the two countries' leaders' first meeting.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told journalists Thursday that Mexico respected the US' prerogative to protect its borders but that Mexico "simply cannot accept the concept of a neighbor paying for your wall."

Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto canceled a meeting with Trump that had been set for next week after renewed tensions erupted over Trump's plan to build a wall on the border.

"This morning we have informed the White House that I will not attend the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the POTUS," Peña Nieto tweeted Thursday.

Trump said that the two leaders had "agreed" to cancel the meeting at a meeting of Republican strategists in Philadelphia.

"Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless and I want to go a different route," he said in prepared remarks. "We have no choice."

Earlier Thursday morning, Trump had tweeted that it would be better to skip the meeting if his Mexican counterpart continued to insist Mexico would not pay for the wall.

Videgaray insisted that his ministry would take a cooperative stance toward Mexico's northern neighbor and largest trading partner -- the World Bank reports over 80 percent of its exports flow north -- but that the disagreement over funding for the wall was about Mexico's "dignity and our pride."

Videgaray said he was in a meeting with White House staff setting out protocols and logistics for Peña Nieto's visit when he heard about Trump's tweet.

"We then asked for a break in the meeting and I quickly called (Peña Nieto). He had already seen it, through social media, and the President gave me instructions to communicate in a cordial and respectful manner to the White House that due to this statement it was inviable to have the meeting."

He said that his government's stance over the wall was "not a negotiating strategy."

"This goes way beyond any trade issue, investment, or other things that we are more than willing to negotiate and talk about and make better."

He said that the Mexican government was confident that it could "get to great deals with President Trump."

Videgaray, known to have a good relationship with Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with Mexican senators Tuesday ahead of his first face-to-face diplomatic meeting with the Trump administration in Washington.

He added that Mexico will not react on Trump's 20% tax proposal until "we see action."

"Let's not put too much energy or attention into something that will be speculation. I can tell you that if you tax exports from Mexico into the US, you're going to make things ranging from avocados, to appliances to flat screen TVs more expensive and that is going to be paid by the American consumer."

"Let's not devote too much time onto something that is speculation." </s> President Trump spoke by phone to President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico for an hour on Friday, according to statements by both leaders.

Peña Nieto was scheduled to visit the White House on Jan. 31. But on Wednesday Trump signed an order to move forward with a wall along the Mexican border and insisted that Mexico would eventually pay the bill.

On Thursday, Peña Nieto canceled his planned visit to the U.S. without giving a reason.

According to a statement released by Peña Nieto's office after Friday's call, the two leaders did discuss security along the border between their two countries.

"With regard to the payment of the border wall, both Presidents acknowledged their clear and very public differences in position on this sensitive issue and agreed to resolve these differences as part of a comprehensive discussion of all aspects of the bilateral relationship," an unofficial translation of the statement read.

"The Presidents also agreed at this point not to speak publicly about this controversial issue."

The White House released a statement saying, "With respect to payment for the border wall, both presidents recognize their clear and very public differences of positions on this issue but have agreed to work these differences out."

Asked about the call at a news conference on Friday, Trump said the call had been "very good" and that "we are going to renegotiate our trade deals and we are going to renegotiate other aspects of our relationship with Mexico and in the end I think it will be good for both countries."

Trump also noted the trade deficit with Mexico, saying:



On Thursday, a White House spokesman said one potential way to pay for the wall could be to apply a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico, as well as other countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit.

"That would effectively saddle U.S. consumers with a significant portion of the wall's cost, estimated at $15 billion or more," NPR's Scott Horsley reported.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto rejects the idea, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, that Mexico would pay for any border wall between the United States and his country.