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US President Donald Trump offered aid to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in the fight against drug trafficking, according to the transcript of the call that both leaders held last Friday, which was initially misrepresented as a threat of military invasion.
According to the text obtained by CNN, President Trump‘s words were: “You have some very bad men in Mexico with whom you may need help. We are willing to help big time, but they have to be defeated and you have not done a good job fighting them.”
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This transcript diverges significantly from the official internal transcript of the call that described a threat on the part of the American president, who allegedly raised the possibility of sending American troops into Mexican territory, according to a cable disseminated by the news agency Associated Press (AP).
Hours after this information was made public both the Mexican and the American government denied the report. CNN contacted Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary who said, “As I stated, the two presidents had a very productive call and discussed how to expand our relationship. Mexico and the US have jointly offered a summary of the nature of the discussion.”
Mexican government spokesman Eduardo Sánchez Hernández said it was untrue that President Trump threatened Mexico, but had offered his support to the Aztec country in security matters.
Donald Trump has had a prickly relationship with his southern neighbor since the beginning of his campaign. He frequently used Mexico as a punching bag on the campaign trail and warned of the dangers posed by Mexican drug, trade, and immigration policies.
Currently, Trump and Mexican President Nieto are embroiled in tense negotiations regarding Trump’s proposal to withdraw the US from NAFTA and construct a border wall. Trump has promised to obligate Mexico to pay for the wall; a position which has been met with indignation by Mexican leaders.
Source: CNN
