Topline
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has agreed to stop immigrants from reaching the U.S. southern border through Mexico—signaling he had scored a major diplomatic and political win during a phone call with the Mexican leader—although Sheinbaum later clarified that her country’s position was not to close borders.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency … [+] on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Key Facts
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday evening, Trump said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Sheinbaum where she agreed to “stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.”
In a follow-up post, Trump wrote Mexico had agreed to stop people from reaching the U.S. southern border “effective immediately,” and added, “THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA.”
The president-elect said he and Sheinbaum also discussed what more could be done to “stop the massive drug inflow into the United States,” something he had accused Mexico of enabling earlier this week while promising to slap 25% tariffs on all imports from the country.
Shortly after the call, Sheinbaum issued a statement on X saying she had an “excellent call” with Trump where she addressed Mexico’s strategy on the migration issue and informed him that “no caravans are arriving at the [U.S. southern] border because they are being attended to in Mexico.”
In a follow-up tweet after Trump’s posts, the Mexican president said she had explained to Trump her country’s “comprehensive strategy” for addressing the migration issue while “respecting human rights.”
Sheinbaum, however, noted that “Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”
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Key Background
Cracking down on the entry of immigrants from the southern border was a key campaign promise made by Trump along with “mass deportations” of undocumented individuals who are already in the U.S. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said earlier this week that he will impose 25% tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada as one of his first executive orders. In his post, Trump claimed, “a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border.” Trump said the tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
Tangent
In response to Trump’s threat, Sheinbaum warned on Tuesday that Mexico was ready to retaliate but warned that a trade war would worsen economic conditions in both countries. In a press briefing, the Mexican leader read out a letter she had written to Trump which said: “One tariff will follow another in response and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk…What sense is there?” Sheinbaum also noted that American carmakers who have plants in Mexico—including General Motors and Ford will be particularly badly hurt.
Further Reading
Trump Promises New Tariffs On China, Mexico, Canada After Taking Office (Forbes)
