Washington: 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.”
—IANS