Trump forgoes insults of past, calls Mexico cherished friend
Deb Riechmann and Jill Colvin, Associated Press
Updated 7:13 pm CDT, Wednesday, July 8, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, who has denigrated Mexican migrants and threatened the U.S. ally with crippling tariffs, welcomed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the White House on Wednesday, called him a cherished partner and claimed the countries' economic and security ties were reaching new heights.
Trump's warm words were in stark contrast to the days when he called Mexicans “rapists” and railed against migrants entering the United States illegally. López Obrador had cordial words for Trump, too, saying that while they have disagreed, it was better to find common ground and avoid slinging insults.
The meeting was billed as a celebration of economic ties and the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, but critics in Mexico worried López Obrador was being used as a political pawn to bolster the Trump campaign and his “America first,” anti-illegal migration agenda. Despite the verbal backslapping in the Rose Garden, thorny issues — from immigration to investment — remain.
Trump has dialed back his harsh words since López Obrador took office a year and a half ago. And López Obrador signaled he wanted to put the insults in the past.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Mexico-s-L-pez-Obrador-sees-Lincoln-Memorial-15393837.php#item-85307-tbla-2
Also posted in LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142534124
Trump intends to try to put the squeeze on the new Mexican President to build the rest of his wall?
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