President Trump made building a wall along the southern U.S. border and forcing Mexico to pay for it core pledges of his campaign.
But in his first White House call with Mexico’s president, Trump described his vow to charge Mexico as a growing political problem, pressuring the Mexican leader to stop saying publicly that his government would never pay.
“You cannot say that to the press,” Trump said repeatedly, according to a transcript of the Jan. 27 call obtained by The Washington Post. Trump made clear that he realized the funding would have to come from other sources but threatened to cut off contact if Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto continued to make defiant statements.
The funding “will work out in the formula somehow,” Trump said, adding later that “it will come out in the wash, and that is okay.” But “if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.”
(Of course ultimately Trump had to live with that because the wall is now supposedly being paid for by the American taxpayers.)
In the actual transcripts President Nieto made a rather salient point that Trump seems to have glossed over:
And let me tell you that a lot of what is happening in terms of traffickers in Mexico is being largely supported by the illegal amounts of money and weapons coming from the United States.
What seems to be lost in Trump's rhetoric is that the border crossings go both ways, and that the money and illegal guns being smuggled into Mexico are at least as big a problem for them, and Mexican drugs are for us.
Trump also made this admission:
Believe it or not, this is the least important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important talk about.
In other words Trump had painted himself into a corner with his braggadocio and he was begging President Nieto to help him save face.
However believe it or not this was not the most difficult call that Trump would make to a foreign leader:
The Jan. 28 call with Turnbull became particularly acrimonious. “I have had it,” Trump erupted after the two argued about an agreement on refugees. “I have been making these calls all day, and this is the most unpleasant call all day.”
Apparently Trump got his shorts in bunch over the idea of accepting refugees into the country:
“This is going to kill me,” he said to Turnbull. “I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. And now I am agreeing to take 2,000 people.”
(Actually the number was 1,250 that President Obama had agreed to take to help alleviate the suffering of his fellow human beings who had been displaced by war and persecution.)
“I hate taking these people,” Trump said. “I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people”
Turnbull tried to salvage the deal, noting that the detainees were economic refugees who had not been accused of crimes. He explained that they were being denied entry into Australia because of a policy aimed at discouraging human smuggling.
“There is nothing more important in business or politics than a deal is a deal,” Turnbull said. “You can certainly say that it was not a deal that you would have done, but you are going to stick with it.”
Trump only became angrier, saying the refugees could “become the Boston bomber in five years.”
“I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made,” Trump said. “As far as I am concerned, that is enough, Malcolm. I have had it.”
With that Trump abruptly ended the call. But not before telling the Australian Prime Minister who he DID enjoy talking with.
Before ending the call, Trump noted that at least one of his conversations that day had gone far more smoothly. “Putin was a pleasant call,” Trump said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This is ridiculous.”
Keep in mind, before anybody calls this fake news, that this is from the White House's own transcripts which were leaked to the Post.
So yes America, THAT is the guy who is now leading this country.
Source http://ift.tt/2vxmJM6
