Pena Nieto: I Told Trump Mexico Won't Pay for Wall
Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto and Donald Trump are now offering different accounts of what happened in their closed-door meeting this afternoon.
During a joint press conference that immediately followed their meeting, Trump said, "we didn't discuss who pays for the wall," referring to Trump's campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But Nieto took to Twitter this evening to give his account. In two tweets written in Spanish posted more than an hour after the press conference, Nieto wrote that "at the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall." From there, the conversation turned to other topics and continued in a "respectful manner," he wrote.
This stands in contrast to what Trump previously said when asked directly about whether or not the topic of payment plans came up when the two men met.
"We did discuss the wall, we did not discuss payment of the wall that'll be for a later date. This was a very preliminary meeting. I think it was an excellent meeting," Trump said at the press conference.
Trump's campaign team released a statement reiterating Trump's version of events, and defending the avoidance of any money talk.
"Today was the first part of the discussion and a relationship builder between Mr. Trump and President Peña Nieto. It was not a negotiation, and that would have been inappropriate. It is unsurprising that they hold two different views on this issue, and we look forward to continuing the conversation," the campaign's senior communications adviser, Jason Miller, said in a statement.
Hillary Clinton's team reacted to the press conference, and addressed the claim that Trump and Nieto did not discuss the wall.
"What we saw today from a man who claims to be the ultimate 'deal maker' is that he doesn't have the courage to advocate for his campaign promises when he's not in front of a friendly crowd," Clinton campaign chair John Podesta said in a statement.
