U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in a joint statement with Mexican President Peña Nieto on Friday at the G20 Summit that it was a successful day thus far and that they are “negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and some other things with Mexico.”
Trump said in a joint statement and ahead of a bilateral meeting with Nieto:
It’s great to be with my friend, the President of Mexico. And we’re negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico, and we’ll see how it all turns out. But I think we’ve made very good progress.
Nieto followed with thanks to those who opened the space for him to meet with Trump.
Nieto continued by stating, as interpreted:
I have truly (inaudible) help us continue a very flowing dialogue that will allow us, of course, for the negotiation of NAFTA; to continue working in terms of cooperation, especially for security, for the security of both nations, especially in our borders; and, of course, also working on migration issues, which is a task that both of our nations are occupied, and our administrations are occupied with this issue as well.
The Mexican president added that the administrations of both countries have admitted that they are co-responsible for “organized crime issues.”
Trump and Nieto were seated next to one another for the bilateral meeting. They were flanked by their aides during their comments. The two were joined by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was directly next to Trump. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, and NEC Director Gary Cohn were also present.
Trump was also asked by an AP reporter at the press availability, “Mr. Trump do you still want Mexico to pay for the wall?” To which Trump responded, “Absolutely.”
After the bilateral meeting between the two world leaders, The White House provided the following readout of their meeting:
President Donald J. Trump met today with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. President Trump emphasized the strong bilateral relationship that the United States enjoys with Mexico and noted the importance of renegotiating NAFTA to help workers in both countries. President Trump thanked President Peña Nieto for Mexico’s partnership on the Central America Conference last month. The leaders also discussed regional challenges, including drug trafficking, illegal migration, and the crisis in Venezuela.
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