Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denies Donald Trump’s comments that she wants to “stop immigration” at the border

His remarks were quickly denied by his interlocutor. After speaking with Claudia Sheinbaum, the American president-elect, Donald Trump, assured, Wednesday, November 27, that the Mexican president had agreed to « stopper l’immigration » illegally heading to the United States. What the latter refuted, recalling that Mexico’s position “is not to close the borders”.

Evoking “a wonderful conversation with the new president of Mexico”Donald Trump wrote that M^me Sheinbaum had just« accept[er] to put an end to immigration through Mexico and towards the United States, [en] thus closing our southern border”, son its Truth Social platform, following their telephone conversation. “Mexico will stop people from traveling to our southern border, starting now”he continued in another message, assuring that this would contribute “greatly to put an end to the illegal invasion of the United States”.

But these remarks were quickly contradicted by the Mexican president, on the social network X. During the exchange with Mr. Trump, “I explained the global strategy that Mexico has followed to deal with the migratory phenomenon. (…) We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”wrote Claudia Sheinbaum.

Earlier, the left-wing leader had specified that she had a “excellent discussion” with the Republican on the subjects of security and immigration. “We discussed the Mexican strategy facing the phenomenon of migration”she wrote on X, declaring that she had told her interlocutor “that the caravans [de migrants] do not reach the northern border [entre le pays et les Etats-Unis] because they are taken care of in Mexico ».

Threat of trade war

Donald Trump, who campaigned in 2016 promising to build a wall along the Mexican border, repeated violent rhetoric towards migrants throughout the presidential campaign, accusing them of poisoning « and high » American, and promised to put an end to what he describes as« invasion ».

This telephone call also comes a few days after the Republican tribune threatened Mexico, Canada and China with a sharp increase in customs tariffs. The president-elect confirmed Monday his desire to“impose customs duties of 25% on ALL products entering the United States on Mexico and Canada”from January 20, the day of his inauguration. “This tax will remain in effect until drugs, especially fentanyl, and all illegal immigrants stop this invasion of our country!” »he added.

The Mexican currency, which fell on Tuesday to its lowest level in twenty-eight months in reaction to these announcements, rebounded strongly on Wednesday. Caravans of migrants from several countries in South and Central America are crossing Mexico to reach the United States by land.

Before this phone call, the Mexican president had warned her future American counterpart of the consequences of her shock announcements: “President Trump, it is not through threats or tariffs that you are going to stop the phenomenon of immigration, nor drug consumption in the United States”she declared in a letter.

Claudia Sheinbaum had threatened the Republican to in turn increase Mexican customs tariffs on American products, deploring that this trade war threatens competitiveness, inflation and employment in North America. “I am sure that there will be an agreement with the United States and President Trump”assured M^me Sheinbaum.

Fight against fentanyl trafficking

The United States “would shoot you in the foot” with the increase in customs tariffs of 25% on Mexican exports, estimated Wednesday the Mexican Minister of the Economy, Marcelo Ebrard. “The impact on businesses would be enormous”he added to the press, estimating that 400,000 jobs would be threatened in the United States. Mexico, more than 83% of whose exports go to the United States, is a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada (USMCA).

During their call, the Mexican president also said she had spoken to her future counterpart about strengthening “collaboration on security issues” and a campaign carried out in Mexico “to prevent the consumption of fentanyl”. Donald Trump, for his part, mentioned a discussion on “what can be done to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, as well as the use of these drugs by Americans”.

Fentanyl is a synthetic drug “about 100 times more powerful than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin”according to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). According to Washington, fentanyl, often produced in Mexico with chemical compounds from China in particular, causes more than 70,000 overdose deaths each year on American soil.