The White House will continue to “keep the lines of communication open” with Mexico despite renewed tension between President Trump and the country’s leader, President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One just minutes after Peña Nieto canceled his upcoming visit to the U.S., White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the administration fully intends to “look for a date to schedule something in the future.”
Peña Nieto was slated to meet with Trump in Washington next Tuesday, but announced on Twitter Thursday morning that he had changed his mind.
“Mexico reiterates its willingness to work with the United States to achieve agreements in favor out both nations,” he said in a follow-up tweet. The Mexican president had released a video on Wednesday in which he said, “I regret and reject the decision of the United States to continue the construction of a [border] wall.”
Peña Nieto’s decision to cancel the visit came hours after Trump took matters into his own hands, suggesting on Twitter that, “if Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”
Spicer did not provide details on when or where a future visit between the two leaders might occur.
