Mexican president exits Trump embrace smiling, Democrats grumble

[webfact]

Mexican president exits Trump embrace smiling, Democrats grumble

By Dave Graham

 

FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador walks with U.S. President Donald Trump as they arrive at a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 8, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

 

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Defying warnings that to seek out Donald Trump was to court disaster, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador instead emerged from their first meeting as a "cherished friend" of his U.S. counterpart, even as some Democrats looked on uneasily.

 

The spectacle of Lopez Obrador and Trump lavishing praise on each other on Wednesday was a far cry from the tension that has plagued bilateral ties since the American launched his bid for power in 2015 with repeated threats and jibes against Mexico.

 

Meeting at the White House, the two leaders pledged to strengthen economic ties, and largely avoided the subject of immigration that Trump has used to extract concessions from Mexico on border security and trade since he took office in 2017.

 

"The forecasts were wrong. We didn't fight. We're friends and we're going to continue being friends," Lopez Obrador said, the leftist leader facing Trump as the two addressed the media before a dinner at the White House.

 

But while Mexican officials celebrated the generous words and warm sentiments, some Democratic lawmakers expressed concern that the encounter had been little more than a campaign ploy by the Republican Trump as he seeks to secure re-election in November.

 

"I think the meeting, for the most part, was a dog and pony show," Jesus Garcia, a Mexican-born Democratic congressman from Illinois, told cable TV network C-SPAN.

 

"It's also very telling that President Lopez Obrador would come and only meet with President Trump and not even arrange for a phone call with (Joe) Biden," he added.

 

Lopez Obrador said he would take no sides in the U.S. election and that it would not be right for him to speak to former Vice President Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate because he was on a work visit to Washington.

 

Garcia was one of more than a dozen members of the Hispanic Caucus - all of them Democrats - who in a letter had urged Trump to cancel the meeting, which they condemned as an attempt to distract from the coroanvirus pandemic and to politicize U.S.-Mexico relations.

 

The United States is home to more than 35 million people of Mexican origin and critics of both leaders fear the get-together could help Trump woo voters from that community.

 

ABOUT-TURN

Trump described Mexican migrants as rapists and drug runners during his last election campaign, promising to keep them out with a border wall which he said Mexico would pay for.

 

Biden himself pointed to this in a terse statement issued shortly after the two leaders met.

 

On Wednesday, Trump struck a quite different tone, referring to Lopez Obrador and Mexico as "cherished friends."

 

"Mexican Americans uplift our communities and they strengthen our churches and enrich every feature of national life," Trump said. "They are hardworking, incredible people."

 

While in opposition, Lopez Obrador compared Trump to Adolf Hitler for his treatment of migrants. He pledged to defend them if he won the presidency, which he did in July 2018.

 

On Wednesday, Lopez Obrador thanked Trump for treating Mexico with "kindness and respect."

 

That angered domestic critics of the Mexican leader, who were also upset he did not publicly bring up the wall, or Trump's attempts to repeal a program that has protected so-called Dreamer immigrants in the United States, many of Mexican origin.

 

In a statement, Sylvia Garcia, a Democratic congresswoman from Texas, expressed dismay that immigration had been ignored at the meeting, which she saw as "another White House photo op."

 

Even if Lopez Obrador's intention had been to defend Mexico, his support for Trump only made it more likely that the real estate mogul would serve another four years, said Andres Rozental, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister.

 

"Trump has been bad news for Mexico for five years," said Rozental. "I'm afraid ... that he will use this to his political advantage and that we will be caught in the crosshairs again."

 

If Biden, who is leading in U.S. opinion polls, defeats Trump in November, Wednesday's scenes in Washington could weigh on relations with a Democratic administration, said Jorge Buendia, head of Mexican polling firm Buendia & Laredo.

 

A Democratic government may also be less indulgent toward Lopez Obrador on his nationalist energy agenda, which has threatened major investments in renewable power generation, a key issue for many on the left of the U.S. political spectrum.

 

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Tom Brown)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-07-10

 

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[EVENKEEL]

If the dems are grumbling Trump must be doing some thing right.

[Tug]

The poor guy has no choice for the time beeing I’ll bet he takes a long shower afterwards and probably still feels slimy imo he is 100% correct about not taking sides in our elections he has a very difficult job and I wish him and the Mexican nation much success 

[blazes]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Garcia was one of more than a dozen members of the Hispanic Caucus - all of them Democrats - who in a letter had urged Trump to cancel the meeting, which they condemned as an attempt to distract from the coroanvirus pandemic and to politicize U.S.-Mexico relations

 

What an absurd statement.  How can one "politicize" relations between the US and Mexico when, by definition, it is above all a political relationship, even before it is an economic one.

 

Yes, yes, I know one can't expect intellectual coherence from a Democrat, but still.....

[joecoolfrog]

51 minutes ago, blazes said:

 

What an absurd statement.  How can one "politicize" relations between the US and Mexico when, by definition, it is above all a political relationship, even before it is an economic one.

 

Yes, yes, I know one can't expect intellectual coherence from a Democrat, but still.....

Yep clearly the tens of millions of Dems are all morons whilst all Republicans are of genius level.

Remind me again about intellectual coherence !!

[Brickbat]

The Mexs are salivating are getting business off the chinese. Whatever Trump says is just what suits him at the time. How anyone can respect him beats me. The Making of Trump by Cay Johnston says it all. And Trump can’t sue. Johnston has all the proof. On data files. 

[blazes]

1 hour ago, joecoolfrog said:

Yep clearly the tens of millions of Dems are all morons whilst all Republicans are of genius level.

Remind me again about intellectual coherence !!

 

No, no, only those Dems who rely on CNN and MSNBC for their opinions.....

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts, troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[SunsetT]

Mexican president exits Trump embrace smiling

 

..........Hopefully cos he's just given Trump the virus!

[Paul Henry]

The stable genius has fall in love yet again.He changes his opinions,messaging and policies like most people change their under wear. Did Trump ask for the money to pay for the little bit of new wall he has built, ops sorry the Mexicans are paying the tariffs that Trump imposed on Mexican imports. He still has no idea how tariffs work, and that the American consumer pays the tariffs. Maybe he will now welcome the rapist,depraved, lying ,stealing Mexicans so they can be his bosom buddies now that Jeffery E. has gone to the orgy in the after life. 

[simple1]

IMO good move for Mexico to deescalate tensions. Unfortunately also a potential good move by trump as he may get some extra votes from the Mexican ethnic community.

[joecoolfrog]

23 hours ago, blazes said:

 

No, no, only those Dems who rely on CNN and MSNBC for their opinions.....

As opposed to those Republicans who rely on Fox news and trust Donald Trump lol.