Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is slated to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as he tries to clarify his past comments about Mexico and immigration. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) 
 
 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is slated to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as he tries to clarify his past comments about Mexico and immigration. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) 
 
 Donald Trump will travel to Mexico City on Wednesday for a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, just hours before he delivers a high-stakes speech in Arizona to clarify his views on immigration policy. 
 
 Peña Nieto last Friday invited both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to visit Mexico, his office said in a statement provided to The Washington Post on Tuesday night. 
 
 Trump, sensing an opportunity, decided over the weekend to accept the invitation and push for a visit this week, according to the people in the United States and Mexico familiar with the discussions. 
 
 Late Tuesday, Trump and the Mexican president confirmed on Twitter that they will meet Wednesday. 
 
 “I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow,” Trump wrote Tuesday night. Shortly after, Peña Nieto’s office wrote that “El Señor” Donald Trump has accepted the invitation and will meet privately on Wednesday with Peña Nieto. 
 
 1 of 13 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × How Mexicans are reacting to Trump’s rhetoric View Photos Politicians, comedians, artists and developers hit back at Trump’s inflammatory speech. Caption Politicians, comedians, artists and developers hit back at Trump’s inflammatory speech. Oct. 3, 2015 Mexican comedians put on a play called “Los Hijos de Trump,” or “Sons of Trump." In this play, Trump and his golden-haired carbon copies steal from the blind and bribe the police. The play was adapted from another play, a satire on big spenders, "Brokers." Henry Romero/Reuters Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 Peña Nieto later tweeted that he believes in dialogue in order to “promote the interests of Mexico in the world and, principally, to protect Mexicans wherever they are.” 
 
 The visit comes after Trump has wavered for weeks on whether he will continue to hold his hard-line positions on the central and incendiary issue of his campaign, in particular his call to deport an estimated 11 million immigrants who are living in the United States illegally. 
 
 The people informed of Trump’s plans spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the matter. They said earlier Tuesday that talks between the Trump campaign and Mexican officials were ongoing, with security concerns still being sorted out. 
 
 [Trump risks alienating voting blocs with wavering on immigration] 
 
 Trump is scheduled to hold fundraisers Wednesday morning in California and deliver his immigration speech in the evening at the Phoenix Convention Center. His trip to Mexico will come between his events. 
 
 The Clinton campaign shrugged off Trump’s trip as a distraction from his policies. “What ultimately matters is what Donald Trump says to voters in Arizona, not Mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and deportation of millions,” wrote Jennifer Palmieri, a senior Clinton campaign adviser, in a statement. 
 
 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has promised to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border if he wins the election. Here's what people living along the border have to say about that wall. (Zoeann Murphy,Samuel Granados,Kevin Schaul,Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) 
 
 A Clinton campaign official confirmed that Clinton received a letter requesting an in-person meeting with the Mexican leader. Clinton has not yet accepted. 
 
 “Secretary Clinton last met with President Peña Nieto in Mexico in 2014 and our campaign is in a regular dialogue with the Mexican government officials,” the aide said. “She looks forward to talking with President Peña Nieto again at the appropriate time.” 
 
 The aide requested anonymity to discuss the potential meeting. 
 
 The invitation is a stunning move by Peña Nieto, given the grief that Trump’s campaign has caused the Mexican government over the past year. From calling Mexican illegal immigrants rapists and criminals, to vowing to build a wall along the Southern border, to threatening to undo the North American Free Trade Agreement, Trump has caused growing alarm in Mexico. Peña Nieto himself likened Trump’s rhetoric to that of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, in a March interview with a Mexican newspaper. 
 
 To the delight of his U.S. rally crowds, Trump has repeatedly promised to force Mexico to pay for his proposed border wall. Peña Nieto and other Mexican leaders have dismissed the idea as preposterous. 
 
 “There is no way that Mexico can pay [for] a wall like that,” Peña Nieto said in a July interview on CNN, adding that he did not agree with Trump’s frequent characterization of illegal immigrants from Mexico as rapists and killers. 
 
 Trump’s newly installed campaign chief executive, Stephen K. Bannon, played a key role in devising the Wednesday stop while Trump met Sunday with his aides and family at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., according to two people who have been briefed on the campaign’s deliberations. 
 
 Bannon, who previously headed the conservative website Breitbart News, made the case to the group that Trump must underscore his populist immigration views in the final weeks of the general-election campaign, perhaps with an audacious gesture. 
 
 [Donald Trump calls for ‘deportation force’ to remove undocumented immigrants] 
 
 Peña Nieto’s invitation was brought up, and Bannon said it offered Trump an opening to make headlines and showcase himself as a statesman who could deal directly with Mexico. 
 
 Trump was intrigued by Bannon’s proposal and agreed, but not all aides and allies were as enthusiastic, the people said. 
 
 Trump appointed Bannon to his post and veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager this month after sidelining campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who subsequently resigned. He has been navigating a flood of conflicting advice this summer about where to land on immigration as he has publicly wrestled with himself on the details of his position. 
 
 Following Sunday’s strategy session, plans came together quickly but not without hurdles and some tensions. 
 
 Early this week, representatives for Trump contacted the U.S. Embassy in Mexico about his intentions, according to a person in Mexico familiar with the communications between the two sides. 
 
 Trump’s representatives were told privately by officials that it would be logistically difficult for Trump to visit. But the businessman’s proxies insisted that Trump would not delay his plans, the person said. 
 
 Overseas visits by senior U.S. officials normally require weeks of intricate planning on both sides, as every movement and meeting is plotted. When more security is required, such trips become even more complicated. 
 
 Security staffs traveling with the visitor are usually beefed up. While Mexico is not considered a hostile place, the crime level is high, and Trump, should he appear in public, would require significant protection. 
 
 The invitation — and particularly a visit — seems certain to cause a backlash in Mexico City, where Trump is widely disliked. Mexicans have bashed Trump piñatas, burned him in effigy during public street parties and staged plays about him as a comic villain. 
 
 [Trump on undocumented immigrants: ‘We are going to get rid of the criminals’] 
 
 When Trump declared his candidacy in 2015, he was seen by many in Mexico as insulting but not to be taken very seriously. Mexican diplomats back then scoffed at the notion that Trump was a serious candidate or that the government was worried about his ascent. 
 
 That’s all changed now. Many of Mexico’s government and business elite have grown skittish about the potential of a Trump presidency and the economic damage that his policies might inflict. The United States is Mexico’s most important trading partner. 
 
 Earlier this year, Peña Nieto swapped out key diplomats, including the Mexican ambassador to the United States, to have a more aggressive presence advocating for the importance of a strong relationship between the two countries. 
 
 Several Mexican officials were surprised to learn on Tuesday that Peña Nieto had extended an invitation to Trump. 
 
 “Wow,” one said, when reached by The Post. 
 
 “This is an extraordinarily surprising, but welcome, development, whether it ends up happening or not,” said Andrew Selee, a Mexico expert at the Wilson Center in Washington. “Mexico is a vital country for U.S. foreign policy and economic interests. The second destination for exports and the country of origin of a tenth of all Americans.” 
 
 Several Mexican politicians were quick to criticize the meeting. Miguel Barbosa, an opposition senator with the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution, tweeted about Trump: “Your presence in Mexico is not welcome. Get out! You come to take a photo with those you’ve offended.” 
 
 “It is a political error by [Peña Nieto] to use this lying anti-Mexican,” Barbosa wrote in another tweet. 
 
 A Mexican presidential hopeful with the right-wing National Action Party, Margarita Zavala, tweeted that even though Trump was invited to Mexico, he was not welcome. 
 
 “Mexicans have dignity and we reject your discourse of hate,” she wrote. 
 
 Former Mexican president Vicente Fox tweeted “Adios, Trump!” 
 
 Trump’s Phoenix speech later Wednesday is expected to add to the day’s drama, with declarations by candidate about where exactly he stands on his immigration policy and border security. 
 
 Bannon and Trump speechwriter Stephen Miller have had a heavy influence over the speech’s contours, the people familiar with the campaign said. Miller is a former aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a Trump confidant who has urged him to hold to his tough positioning and rhetoric on immigration. 
 
 And while Trump’s associates have framed his speech and trip as presidential moves, the surprise gambit also fits his career-long tendency for theater and confrontation. 
 
 Partlow reported from Mexico City. Jenna Johnson contributed to this report. ||||| Republican presidential candidate – who wants to build a border wall – will meet Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday ahead of major immigration speech 
 
 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has confirmed that he will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to meet President Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City. 
 
 Moments before taking the stage for a rally in Everett, Washington, just north of Seattle, Trump tweeted that he had “accepted the invitation of President Enrique Peña Nieto, of Mexico, and look[ed] very much forward to meeting him tomorrow”. 
 
 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow. 
 
 The meeting will happen hours before Trump is scheduled to deliver a major address on immigration in Phoenix, Arizona, in which he will aim to clarify his increasingly murky stance on the issue. 
 
 It was confirmed by the official Twitter account for the Mexican presidency, which said: 
 
 Presidencia México (@PresidenciaMX) El Señor @realDonaldTrump ha aceptado esta invitación y se reunirá mañana en privado con el Presidente @EPN. 
 
 Translated, the tweet says that Trump “has accepted the invitation and will meet privately tomorrow with the president”. 
 
 Peña Nieto – who has previously compared Trump to Hitler and Mussolini – said via Twitter that he had invited both presidential candidates to Mexico “to discuss bilateral relations”, adding: “I believe in dialogue to promote the interests of Mexico in the world and to protect Mexicans wherever they are.” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto said he had invited Trump, despite having previously compared him to Hitler. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP 
 
 The Trump campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment. However, Josh Green, a reporter for Bloomberg News, said Trump would be accompanied on the trip by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alabama senator Jeff Sessions. 
 
 Trump surrogates: Republican's position on immigration has not changed Read more 
 
 Trump, who launched his campaign in 2015 with the announcement that Mexico was “bringing their worst people”, including “rapists”, to the US, had been scheduled to appear at fundraisers in California on Wednesday morning, before delivering his immigration address in Phoenix at 6pm local time (9pm ET). 
 
 The trip to Mexico City to meet Peña Nieto – who has previously invited Trump to debate him in Mexico – will likely occur sometime in the middle of the day. 
 
 The proposal was first broached with the US embassy in Mexico City earlier this week, a fast-tracking of an international visit by an American presidential candidate that is typically planned over the course of weeks. 
 
 In recent days, Trump has been increasingly vague on his position about the legal status of the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the US. During the Republican primary, Trump appealed to the conservative base by calling for a “deportation force” to remove all undocumented immigrants from the country. 
 
 However, on a recent trip to Iowa, Trump said the policy issue was driven by the media. “In recent days, the media – as it usually does – has missed the whole point on immigration. All the media wants to talk about is the 11 million or more people here illegally,” he said at a fundraiser for Republican senator Joni Ernst. 
 
 In front of a crowd in Everett on Tuesday evening, Trump made no mention of his upcoming diplomatic mission, focusing instead on campaign speech favorites, including a rambling story in rhyming couplets about an ungrateful and poisonous snake, intended as an allegory about Muslim refugees to the US. 
 
 Also notably absent from the speech was perhaps Trump’s most essential motif: the wall he proposes to build along the US-Mexico border. 
 
 Trump’s approval ratings among Latino voters are historically bad, and his relationship with Peña Nieto’s government is even worse. Trump has long pledged to force Mexico to pay for the proposed 2,000-mile (3,220km) border wall, a suggestion the Mexican president responded to coldly. 
 
 
 
 “No way,” Peña Nieto told CNN earlier this year. 
 
 Peña Nieto has fallen on hard political times in recent months. The latest polls put his approval rating at just 23%, according to Mexico News Daily, as the president has been hit by personal scandals, as well as allegations of human rights abuses by police officers. Protests by teachers opposed to his educational reforms have led to widespread unrest and several deaths. 
 
 It is hard to see how inviting Trump to meet him would help Peña Nieto domestically, as Trump is, unsurprisingly, considerably less popular in Mexico than the president. In March, city legislators passed a non-legally binding bill to ban Trump from Mexico’s capital. 
 
 Peña Nieto’s predecessor, former president Vicente Fox, has been considerably more vocal in speaking out against the Republican nominee, calling Trump’s ideas “racist” and saying “I declare: I’m not going to pay for that fucking wall.” 
 
 Trump reveals plan to finance Mexico border wall with threat to cut off funds Read more 
 
 A spokesperson for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, said the focus should remain on Trump’s immigration speech in Arizona. Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for Hillary for America, said: “From the first days of his campaign, Donald Trump has painted Mexicans as ‘rapists’ and criminals and has promised to deport 16 million people, including children and US citizens. He has said we should force Mexico to pay for his giant border wall. He has said we should ban remittances to families in Mexico if Mexico doesn’t pay up. 
 
 “What ultimately matters is what Donald Trump says to voters in Arizona, not Mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and deportation of millions.” 
 
 Launching his presidential bid last year, Trump claimed “the US has become a dumping ground for everyone else’s problems”, pointing the finger at Mexico. 
 
 “They’re sending us not the right people,” he said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing their problems. 
 
 “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting.”
– Before his big immigration speech on Wednesday, Donald Trump plans to visit somewhere where he is hated so much that he is regularly burnt in effigy during parties—and it's not Ted Cruz's house. Instead, Trump will make a surprise visit to Mexico to meet President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has slammed Trump's plan to make Mexico pay for a border wall and compared the candidate to the likes of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, reports the Washington Post. Trump's campaign says Peña Nieto invited both Trump and Clinton to Mexico a few days ago and Trump has decided to take him up on the offer for private talks. Trump's Arizona speech on immigration is scheduled for 6pm local time Wednesday and the Mexico visit will probably happen around midday, after a fundraising trip to California, reports the Guardian, which notes that Trump made no mention of a border wall or a "deportation force" during a speech in Everett, Wash., on Tuesday night. Sources tell the Post that new campaign chief Steve Bannon urged Trump to make the visit, saying it would get headlines and make him seem statesmanlike. It's less clear what benefits the visit could have for Peña Nieto, whose approval level has sunk to just 23% and is unlikely to be raised by appearing with Trump.