WASHINGTON — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated Friday that she and President Trump had a “cordial” hourlong assembly in Washington that ended with each leaders extending invites to go to one another’s nation.
“We’ll organize a date later,” Sheinbaum advised reporters exterior the Mexican Cultural Institute.
The assembly was the primary time the 2 had met head to head and adopted months of clashes between america and Mexico over contentious points similar to commerce, immigration and how you can fight drug trafficking.
However on Friday, the 2 world leaders had been introduced collectively by soccer.
Sheinbaum was in Washington to attend the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw on the Kennedy Middle, alongside Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The U.S., Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the soccer match, which begins in June.
In a social media submit, Sheinbaum stated the three leaders talked about “the good alternative that the 2026 FIFA World Cup represents for the three international locations and in regards to the good relationships we now have.”
“We agreed to proceed working collectively on commerce situation with our groups,” she added.
She later reiterated to reporters that the assembly had been “very constructive,” and that she impressed upon Trump that Mexico is “extraordinary” nation. She stated she personally invited him to go to Mexico, and that he prolonged an invite to come back again to Washington.
Requested if Trump requested something of her, she stated he had “nothing specifically.”
After months of friction between the 2 international locations, the assembly on Friday may break the ice and set the stage for coverage negotiations as each presidents navigate pressures from their constituencies.
Because the begin of his second time period in January, Trump has threatened to impose massive commerce tariffs on Mexico, america’ largest commerce accomplice — however up to now, Sheinbaum has been in a position to stave off many tariffs.
Trump and his group have additionally been floating the prospect of U.S. strikes on suspected criminals and drug laboratories in Mexico. However Sheinbaum has insisted she wouldn’t enable the U.S. army to combat drug cartels inside its nation’s borders.
The continued negotiations come as Mexicans’ attitudes towards Trump and america have continued to bitter. In distinction, Mexicans proceed to see their very own authorities’s administration of the border positively, based on a Pew Analysis Middle report printed in July.
The upbeat aftermath of Friday’s assembly belied profound variations of opinion between the leaders of two nations which have an virtually 2,000-mile border and share deep financial, safety and cultural ties.
The 2 North American presidents may hardly be extra completely different: Sheinbaum is a scientist and life-long leftist activist who maintains a low-key demeanor; Trump is a real-estate scion who embraces right-wing speaking factors and craves being the focal point.
Sheinbaum has needed to stroll a skinny line as she has fought off Trump’s repeated threats to impose punishing tariffs on imports from Mexico, a nation closely depending on cross-border commerce with america.
She has additionally rejected Trump’s ideas that U.S. forces might intervene unilaterally in Mexico to assault drug cartels. She has maintained her mantra of “cooperation, not subordination,” at the same time as Trump has mused about placing gangs in Mexico.
In numerous remarks, Trump has lauded Sheinbaum as “great” and “courageous,” whereas additionally declaring that she rejected U.S. army assist to combat Mexican cartels as a result of she is is “scared to dying” of the cartels.
Sheinbaum has assailed U.S. strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats within the Caribbean and Pacific which have left dozens useless. She has additionally declared Mexico’s opposition to U.S. army intervention in Venezuela or wherever else in Latin America.
Repeatedly, the Mexican president has insisted that her nation could be “no one’s piñata.”
In his profession, Trump has lengthy used Mexico and Mexicans as a political punching bag, catering to anti-immigrant sentiment in america. Trump kicked off his 2016 presidential marketing campaign declaring that Mexican immigrants had been criminals, drug-runners and and “rapists” — although he acknowledged there have been some “good individuals” amongst them — and repeatedly pledged to construct “a giant stunning wall” alongside the U.S.-Mexico border that Mexico would pay for. It didn’t.
After Friday’s assembly, Ronald Johnson, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, stated on X that the encounter “reaffirmed a historic partnership based mostly on outcomes,” including: “Their dialogue advances a high-level agenda targeted on cooperation, safety, and prosperity.”
Workers Writers Ceballos reported from Washington and McDonnell from Mexico Metropolis.
