ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Disputing the feasibility of one of President-elect Donald Trump’s best-known campaign promises, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he doesn’t think Mexico will pay for a border wall.
“They’re not going to voluntarily pony up and pay for something they disagree with,” Kerry told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz in an interview at the Department of State.
Trump said repeatedly during his campaign that he wanted to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and that Mexico would pay for it. Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto has said the country will not pay.
Trump’s incoming press secretary Sean Spicer said on ABC News’ Good Morning America Friday that the Trump is working with Republicans in Congress to appropriate funding to build the wall and that the administration will find a way, “whether it’s through higher tariffs or a direct check,” to get Mexico to reimburse the U.S. for the costs.
Trump tweeted Friday morning that the media is dishonest for failing to report that Mexico will pay for wall at a later date.
Kerry also commented on Trump’s discussion of policy on Twitter, telling Raddatz Friday that he doesn’t think the social media platform is an appropriate forum to conduct U.S. foreign policy.
“I don’t make announcements of foreign policy by tweet, Twitter. I don’t think that, you know, 140 characters allows you to adequately deal with the complexity of many of the choices that we make,” Kerry said.
Kerry said he didn’t want to engage in a back-and-forth with Trump’s team on the issue, but hopes that they decide to “move to a different way of communicating.”
Trump tweets almost daily on topics from reality television to tensions between China and Taiwan.
After Trump won the election, he rattled diplomats and broke with U.S. policy by accepting a phone call from the president of Taiwan, which led to a formal protest by the Chinese government. China claims that Taiwan is part of its country, and the U.S. has tread carefully by recognizing China’s policy while also maintaining separate relations with Taiwan.
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