In my last post I recommended a piece by Greg Sargent at The New Republic, Mexican President’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Exposes an Ugly MAGA Scam. You might want to review that before reading further.
A couple of days ago Trump posted on Truth Social,
Just had a wonderful conversation with the new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!
If you’ve read the Greg Sargent piece, you already know this is bullshit. Here is how President Sheinbaum responded:
En nuestra conversación con el presidente Trump, le expuse la estrategia integral que ha seguido México para atender el fenómeno migratorio, respetando los derechos humanos. Gracias a ello se atiende a las personas migrantes y a las caravanas previo a que lleguen a la frontera.…
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@Claudiashein) November 28, 2024
“In our conversation with President Trump, I explained to him the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights,” Sheinbaum wrote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are assisted before they reach the border. We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”
Katie Herchenroeder wrote at Vanity Fair,
Earlier on Wednesday, before Trump posted his statement on Truth Social, his social media site, Sheinbaum said they “had an excellent conversation.”
“We discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migration phenomenon, and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico,” she wrote on X. “We also discussed strengthening collaboration on security issues within the framework of our sovereignty and the campaign we are carrying out in the country to prevent the consumption of fentanyl.”
She must realize now what a snake Trump is.
The two presidents’ call comes days after Trump announced he would impose, via an executive order on the first day of his presidency, 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. “This Tariff,” he began, “will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
Avocados, tequila, and beers like Modelo are some of the products that would likely see price hikes should Trump follow through.
In a letter responding to Trump’s tariff threat, Sheinbaum said her government would retaliate if he moved forward with this stated plan. “For every tariff, there will be a response in kind,” Sheinbaum wrote, according to a statement released by the Mexican Embassy Tuesday morning. “Among Mexico’s main exporters to the United States are General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor Company, which arrived in Mexico 80 years ago. Why impose a tariff that would jeopardize them? Such a measure would be unacceptable and would lead to inflation and job losses in both the United States and Mexico,” she added.
Plus, as was spelled out in the Greg Sargent piece, Mexico has been taking extraordinary measures to apprehend most of the migrants traveling through Mexico and stop them from reaching the United States. “During the campaign, Trump simply pretended none of that was happening.” Sargent writes. “It’s one of MAGA’s biggest deceptions, and his latest scam carries it forward.” (Why the Biden Administration wasn’t broadcasting the facts about the border from every loudspeaker in the country all year long is another question.)
I don’t know if Trump and Scheinbaum talked about tariffs, but we do know he talked about tariffs to Justin Trudeau. The Canadian Prime Minister traveled to Mar-a-Lago to try to talk sense to Trump and came away unsatisfied.
Today we learned that Trump has named Charles Kushner, Jared’s ex-felon daddy, ambassador to France. Was this a slap back at Emmanuel Macron?
And we learned that Pete Hegseth’s mother sent him an email accusing him of abusing many women for many years. Your own Mama, Pete. Take it to heart.
Update: Holy bleep — Trump wants Kash Patel to run the FBI.