ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said his hour-long phone call with Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, on Friday was a “very friendly call.”
“I will say that we had a very good call,” Trump said in a news conference at the White House. “I’ve been very strong on Mexico. I have great respect for Mexico. I love the Mexican people.”
Trump added, “As you know, Mexico with the United States has out-negotiated us and beat us to a pulp through our past leaders. They’ve made us look foolish.”
The two leaders were scheduled to meet next Tuesday, but Peña Nieto announced on Twitter that he canceled the business meeting after Trump signed an executive order allowing the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
During his speech at the Republican retreat in Philadelphia Thursday, Trump said he and Peña Nieto “agreed” to cancel their planned meeting.
“Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough,” Trump tweeted Friday.
Trump, however, said on Friday that he and Peña Nieto have a “good relationship.”
“We have really, I think, a very good relationship, the president and I,” Trump said in his news conference, adding, “We are going to be working on a fair relationship and a new relationship.”
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