News / Foreign Policy

Trump, Nieto clash over US-Mexico border wall

Wednesday, 30 May 2018 5:14 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 May 2018 5:17 AM ]

US President Donald Trump (L) and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (File photo)

US President Donald Trump has insisted that Mexico would eventually pay for his promised border wall, provoking a rebuke from his Mexican counterpart.

At a rally in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, Trump said, “In the end, Mexico is going to pay for the wall.”

He criticized Mexico for doing “nothing to help us,” saying, “They make all of this money, and they do absolutely nothing to stop people from going through Mexico, from Honduras and all these other countries, the caravan, all of this stuff.”

“They’re going to pay for the wall, and they’re going to enjoy it,” the president added.

Later on Tuesday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto fired back by saying that Mexico “will never” pay for Trump’s long-promised border wall.

President @realDonaldTrump: NO. Mexico will NEVER pay for a wall. Not now, not ever.

Sincerely, Mexico (all of us).
— Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) May 30, 2018

Trump made quite a buzz during his 2016 presidential campaign by pledging to build "a big, beautiful wall" to curb illegal immigration, a promise that went on to become a centerpiece of his campaign and later on an attacking point for his critics.

During the campaign, he suggested that illegal Mexican immigrants in the US were “murderers” and “rapists.”

The president wants as much as $25 billion for his wall project that would take almost 10 years to complete, but the $1.3-trillion spending bill he signed in March authorized only $1.6 billion for fencing, surveillance technology and other measures.

The total length of the border is 1,954 miles (3,145 km) and is one of the most frequently crossed borders in the world.

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