Mexico’s president called Donald Trump “a friend” Friday and said he would write to the former U.S. president to warn him against pledging to close the border or blaming migrants for bringing drugs into the United States. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called Trump, president from 2017 to 2021 and again the Republican nominee for this fall’s presidential election, “a man of intelligence and vision,” despite Trump’s repeated calls to close the two countries’ border.
Quick Read
- Mexican President’s Response to Trump
- Praise for Trump: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador referred to Donald Trump as “a friend” and praised him as “a man of intelligence and vision,” despite past tensions.
- Upcoming Letter: López Obrador plans to write to Trump to address concerns about Trump’s past threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border and his claims that migrants bring drugs into the U.S. He intends to argue that closing the border would be unfeasible and ineffective.
- Economic Impact: López Obrador emphasized that closing the border would severely disrupt the economies of both countries, particularly affecting U.S. automakers and manufacturers reliant on cross-border supply chains.
- Auto Production Costs: He also commented on the issue of U.S. auto companies shifting production to lower-wage plants in Mexico, suggesting that relocating production back to the U.S. would significantly increase car prices for American consumers.
- Historical Context: Despite frictions, López Obrador and Trump had a notably cooperative relationship from 2018 to 2020. López Obrador agreed to use Mexico’s National Guard to control migration and has continued this policy with the current U.S. administration.
The Associated Press has the story:
Mexican President calls Trump ‘a friend,’ says he’ll ‘warn him against closing border’
Newslooks- MEXICO CITY (AP) —
Mexico’s president called Donald Trump “a friend” Friday and said he would write to the former U.S. president to warn him against pledging to close the border or blaming migrants for bringing drugs into the United States.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called Trump, president from 2017 to 2021 and again the Republican nominee for this fall’s presidential election, “a man of intelligence and vision,” despite Trump’s repeated calls to close the two countries’ border.
Mexicans were offended in 2015 when then-candidate Trump claimed that, in many cases, immigrants arriving in the U.S. illegally included “criminals, drug dealers, rapists.”
And Mexico was shocked in 2019 when Trump as president threatened to close the border “for a long time” unless Mexican authorities stopped migrants from crossing. López Obrador said the two countries’ economies were so intertwined that they couldn’t bear a closure for even a month.
López Obrador said that in a letter he planned to send next week, “I am going to prove to him that migrants don’t carry drugs to the United States,” adding that “closing the border won’t solve anything, and anyway, it can’t be done.”
“They wouldn’t last a month with the border closed,” he said, referring to U.S. automakers and manufacturers who depend on a steady, uninterrupted supply of parts and finished products for their plants on both sides of the border.
López Obrador also addressed a growing discomfort in the United States with the massive transfer of U.S. auto companies to lower-wage plants in Mexico. López Obrador claimed that moving auto production back to the United States “would mean that on average, each automobile sold would cost U.S. citizens between $15,000 and $20,000 more.”
Despite the frequent frictions and Trump’s belligerent statements, the two leaders had an outwardly amicable relationship between 2018 and 2020, with López Obrador agreeing to use Mexico’s National Guard to make it harder for third-country migrants to cross Mexico to the U.S. border. He has also done that during the current U.S. administration.
