The opportunity to meet with a current president is an honor and a great photo opportunity, but Trump’s recent visit to Mexico City gave him much more than anything Enrique Peña Nieto bargained for.
The Mexican president invited both Hillary Clinton and Donal
d Trump to visit with him at Los Pinos, the Mexican presidential residence.
Although Clinton did not respond to the invitation, Trump did, and traveled to the meeting on the same day he was to give a much-anticipated speech on immigration in Phoenix.
No one is sure what President Peña Nieto expected from the meeting, but many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans hoped he would publicly object to Trump’s characterization of Mexicans as rapist, drug dealers, and murders. Maybe Peña Nieto would push back on Trump’s claims he will build a wall along the border and force Mexico to pay for it. Maybe he would be as forceful as Former President Vicente Fox has been in speaking out against Trump’s racist comments.
But instead, there they stood, side-by-side at matching podiums after their 90-minute private meeting, both men smiling. Instead of a standoff, Peña Nieto said Trump has made “assertions that regrettably had hurt and have affected Mexicans”, but he did not demand an apology from Trump.
Then Trump, who cleverly set up the press conference to make sure he had the last word, was asked if they discussed his campaign promise to build a border wall and force Mexico to pay for it. Trump responded that they had discussed the wall, but not the issue of who would pay for it. And Peña Nieto just stood there silently.
Trump seemed restrained, calm, and lacking his usual braggadocios manner. He calmly complemented his Mexican host and said he has a “tremendous feeling for Mexican-Americans”, saying they are “spectacular, spectacular people.”
The same man that has said Mexico sends rapist, drug dealers, and criminals, and, “some, I assume, are good people.”.
Peña Nieto missed the opportunity to publicly rebuke Trump’s comments, to stand up for hardworking Mexicans that have come to America to improve their lives, just like Trump’s grandfather did. Peña Nieto gave Trump the stage to look presidential, and at the same time, Peña, himself, looked less so.
It wasn’t until after the press conference that Peña Nieto clarified what had happened in the private meeting. Hours later, the Mexican president took to Twitter to write that he had made it clear in the meeting that Mexico would not pay for the wall.
Too little, way too late.
The damage (for Peña) had already been done, and Trump was about to take the stage at a rally in Phoenix. Which Donald Trump showed up to that event?
Not the same, presidential-style Trump. Just hours after complementing Mexicans, Trump was again on the attack, reiterating his promise to build a border wall, force Mexico to pay for it, and added that, under his administration, there would be no amnesty for undocumented immigrants already in the US.
So much for diplomacy. So much for restraint.
Trump had used his visit to Mexico to burnish his image, look like an international player, and stayed cool enough to leave the stage without causing a riot. He played Peña Nieto to his advantage for his own gain.
Well played Donald.
Peña Nieto was already one of Mexico’s least admired presidents, and that’s saying a lot. He has served for only two and a half years of a six-year term, yet he has taken heat for drug violence, poor economic growth, government corruption, and a continued decrease in the Peso’s value.
Just when he thought his approval ratings couldn’t get any lower, they did. A recent poll shows his approval rating at just 26 percent, down from 35 percent last year, and from a high of 55 percent after his election. 15 percent of the respondents thought inviting Trump was the worst decision of his presidency.
Some Latinos hope the silver lining of the Peña-Trump debacle may be that it drew attention to duplicity of Trump’s comments, and may energize voters against him.
One thing is for sure: Peña Nieto is fortunate he cannot seek re-election because his chances of winning now seem to be lower than Trump’s. If Trump does win, Peña Nieto will end up being the Mexican that helped Trump the most.