The Associated Press is reporting that President Donald Trump threatened to send American troops to Mexico to take care of “bad hombres” in a Friday call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
From Associated Press:
“You have a bunch of bad hombres down there,” Trump told the Mexican president in the excerpt provided to the Associated Press. “You aren’t doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn’t, so I just might send them down to take care of it.”
Trump described the call with Mexico as “very good” last Friday. Although Trump added that Mexico has made the US “look foolish” and that he is seeking a “new relationship” with the border nation.
According to The Hill, The White House is denying any of this ever happened:
The U.S. and Mexico are denying reports that President Donald Trump told his Mexican counterpart Enrique Peña Nieto that U.S. forces will handle the “bad hombres down there” if the Mexican authorities don’t.
The Associated Press reported the story, citing an excerpt from a transcript of a Friday call. A similar account, citing sources in both countries, was also reported by D.C.-based journalist Dolia Estevez.
“Reports that the President threatened to invade Mexico are false. Even the Mexican government is disputing these reports,” a White House official said.
Dolia Estevez, a Mexican journalist, reported on the confrontational call before the AP did. She told a Mexican news outlet, Aristequi Noticias, that the call was a “very offensive conversation where Trump humiliated Peña Nieto.”
Trump has previously pledged to push back on drug violence on the U.S.-Mexico border, and promised to deport “bad hombres” and “drug lords.”
“We are going to get them out, secure the border, and once the border is secure, at a later date, we will make a determination as to the rest. But we have some bad hombres here, and we are going to get them out,” he said in October.
The relationship between the U.S. and Mexico has been strained since President Trump took office. He has continued to vow that Mexico will pay for a border wall either via a tax on imports, or through other “complicated” means.
Peña Nieto subsequently cancelled a scheduled visit to Washington due to Trump’s insistence that Mexico will pay for the wall, as he finds it offensive to Mexico’s sovereignty.
Whether or not this conversation between President Trump and Mexico President Peña Nieto is anyone’s guess at this point. The Associated Press isn’t typically known for being a purveyor of ‘fake news’ but perhaps as the adage goes, there is a first time for everything.
I will keep an eye on this story and update it accordingly.
Dantheman