Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is “considering” canceling his trip to Washington following President Trump’s executive actions on immigration, according to a report Wednesday.
Pena Nieto is scheduled to visit the U.S. next week, but Trump’s Wednesday afternoon order to start construction of a southern border wall has caused the Mexican leader to reconsider the trip north.
Trump’s determination to build a wall should come as no surprise to Mexico. Trump has repeatedly called for enhanced security on the border since he announced his bid for president in June 2015.
“This is an insult to those Mexican officials, to the president of Mexico and to all Mexicans,” Jorge Castaneda, a former foreign minister, said in a televised interview. “It’s a way of making them negotiate under threat, under insults, and it should lead President Peña Nieto to cancel his trip next week.”
Pena Nieto’s potential Jan. 31 meeting with Trump would be the first between the two since they met in Mexico last summer.
