Trump 'pressed Mexico to stop talk of wall payments'
US President Donald Trump urged the
Mexican president to stop publicly saying he would not pay for a
proposed border wall, according to transcripts.
Mr Trump
admonished Enrique Pena Nieto for publicly denouncing the wall during a
27 January phone call, transcripts obtained by the Washington Post show.
"You cannot say that to the press," he reportedly told him.
Transcripts of his first call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were also published.
In
a rancorous call, President Trump tells him it was the "worst"
conversation he had that day, and one with Russian President Vladimir
Putin was more pleasant.
Mr Trump launched his presidential
campaign on a promise to build a wall along the US southern border and
vowed to make Mexico pay for the project.
But the transcripts
show the US president acknowledged the funding would come from other
sources, saying the money "will work out in the formula somehow".
He
added: "If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the
wall then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot
live with that."
The House of Representatives approved $1.6 billion towards the border
wall last week, and the federal government has been viewing proposals
submitted by construction contractors.
Speaker of the House Paul
Ryan, the highest ranked congressional Republican, also released a video
this week of his visit to the southern border, saying "it's time for
The Wall".
On Mexico phone call
TRUMP: "I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den."
AZ: Donald
Trump lost New Hampshire in the general election, but he won its
Republican primary last February, which cemented his status as the
front-runner for the party's nomination. While he was campaigning there
he acknowledged the state's opioid addiction epidemic, but never in such
derogatory terms.
TRUMP: "You have some pretty tough hombres
in Mexico that you may need help with, and we are willing to help you
with that big-league. But they have to be knocked out and you have not
done a good job of knocking them out."
AZ:
The "tough hombre" line had leaked - and been roundly derided as
insensitive - shortly after the president had his conversation with Mr
Nieto. Now it can be viewed in context, which doesn't do much to help
the president appear diplomatic.
TRUMP: "Your words are so
beautiful. Those are beautiful words and I do not think I can speak that
beautifully, okay? It would be great to put those words at the end of
the statement."
AZ: During the campaign, Mr
Trump once boasted: "I know the best words." Perhaps the president is
acknowledging that, in Mr Nieto, he's finally met his match.
On Australia call
TRUMP: "This
[refugee resettlement deal] is going to kill me. I am the world's
greatest person that does not want to let people into the country."
AZ: Mr
Trump apparently walked into his phone call with Mr Turnbull with no
clear understanding of the details of the refugee resettlement
agreement, aside from what "somebody" told him the day before.
TRUMP: "I
guarantee you they [refugees] are bad. That is why they are in prison
right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work
for the local milk people."
AZ: The refugees
in question were being detained, not imprisoned - a key difference. And,
as Mr Turnbull points out, the US did not agree to admit all 1,250
individuals, but rather to screen them and then admit only those who
would pose no threat to the "milk people".
TRUMP: "I have had
it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most
unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous."
AZ: There
were news reports after the conversation that Mr Trump's interactions
with Mr Turnbull were less than cordial. The president and the White
House denied it, but the transcript tells a different story. The line
about Vladimir Putin is just the icing on the cake.
BBC
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