In blustery call, Trump pressured Mexico on border wall payment

[webfact]

In blustery call, Trump pressured Mexico on border wall payment

By Ayesha Rascoe

 

U.S. President Donald Trump awards the Medal of Honor to James McCloughan, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, U.S. July 31, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump pressured the Mexican president to stop voicing opposition in public to his plan to have Mexico pay for a border wall, according to transcripts of phone calls published on Thursday that gave an insight into Trump's attempts to influence foreign leaders in his first days in office.

 

The Washington Post published texts of sometimes fraught calls with Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull just days after the Republican took office on Jan. 20.

 

The substance of the calls has previously been reported but the lengthy transcripts reveal Trump, whose first elected office is the presidency, trying to use a mixture of bluster, tough talk and charm as he fully enters the world of diplomacy.

 

Trump argued with Turnbull over refugees in an acrimonious call on Jan. 28 which the new U.S. president told his counterpart was "unpleasant."

 

In a Jan. 27 call, Trump pressed Pena Nieto to avoid saying in public that Mexico would not fund the planned border wall. But he complimented the Mexican leader's "beautiful words" and said he hoped Mexico would change its constitution to allow Pena Nieto to extend his stay in office.

 

The proposed wall, aimed at preventing illegal immigration to the United States, is a bone of contention between Mexico and Washington. Pena Nieto has repeatedly rejected Trump's promise that Mexico will end up paying billions of dollars for its construction.

 

'YOU CANNOT SAY THAT'

 

Trump told the Mexican leader in the call that "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,” according to the transcript.

 

“You cannot say that to the press,” Trump said.

 

Pena Nieto had earlier scrapped a plan to hold talks with Trump in the United States due to tensions over the wall and trade. The two men have since met, holding talks at a summit of the Group of 20 nations in Germany last month.

 

The White House has said the U.S. government will pay for the wall initially to get the project off the ground but that Mexico will eventually reimburse it for the work.

 

Both the White House and Mexico's foreign ministry did not have any immediate comment on Thursday about the release of the call transcripts.

 

It was the latest in a series of leaks from inside Trump's administration which have angered the president. The Republican won some sympathy over leaks from a political opponent on Thursday.

 

"I am alarmed at leaks of conversations between two heads of state," Democratic U.S. Senator Brian Schatz wrote on Twitter. "It doesn't matter what I think of this president, this is terrible."

 

In the conversation with Pena Nieto, Trump said both leaders were "in a little bit of a political bind" due to Trump's campaign pledge to build the wall and have Mexico foot the bill.

 

"I have to have Mexico pay for the wall – I have to. I have been talking about it for a two-year period," Trump said.

 

He suggested that the two men avoid the issue of paying for the wall when asked.

 

"They are going to say, 'Who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?' to both of us, and we should both say, 'We will work it out,'" Trump said. "It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, 'We will not pay' and me saying, 'We will not pay,'" the U.S. president said.

 

Pena Nieto said he understood Trump's position on how to refer to paying for the border wall and suggested seeking "a creative way to jump over this obstacle."

 

Toward the end of their conversation, Trump responded effusively to a comment by Pena Nieto about the Mexican leader's wish for a constructive relationship with the United States.

 

"Your words are so beautiful. Those are beautiful words and I do not think I can speak that beautifully, okay?" Trump said.

 

"I want you to be so popular that your people will call for a constitutional amendment in Mexico so that you can run again for another six years," he said. By law, Mexican presidents can only serve one six-year term.

 

'DRUG INFESTED-DEN'

 

In comments likely to upset voters in New Hampshire - an important early voting state in the U.S. presidential election primaries - Trump described the state as "a drug-infested den."

 

"I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den," he said, complaining that drugs from Mexico are damaging the United States. While Trump won the Republican primary there, he narrowly lost the state to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the general election.

 

New Hampshire officials from both parties lashed out at Trump, with several saying his push to repeal the Obamacare healthcare law would worsen the nation's opioid crisis.

 

Speaking to Australia's Turnbull, Trump became irritated that the United States was expected to honour an agreement made by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, to accept as many as 1,250 refugees held in Australian processing centres on remote Pacific islands.

 

Trump said that would make him look bad given his campaign promises to reduce the number of refugees entering the United States, according to the transcript.

 

"This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country," Trump said.

He told Turnbull that their conversation was the most difficult he had held that day, after speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin and others.

 

"I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day," Trump said. "Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous."

 

(Additional reporting by Eric Walsh in Washington and; Scott Malone in Boston; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-04

[Jingthing]

Quote

"I have had it. I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day," Trump said. "Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous."

 

Agree with trump for once.

This is ridiculous. His entire presidency, that is. 

 

Quote

 

“You and I Against the World”

Trump’s phone call transcripts show how hard it is to make deals with world leaders when you’re an extreme narcissist.

 

Throughout his bombastic campaign, Trump presented himself as a tough and skilled negotiator who could extract concessions from recalcitrant foreigners. Many Americans who knew Trump from The Apprentice and who mistook reality TV for reality believed him. But once Trump got on the phone with Peña Nieto, he neither made demands nor offered an ingenious deal that the Mexican president couldn’t refuse. Instead, he wheedled for help in getting better press coverage, which has always been what he cares about most.

 

 

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/08/trump_s_phone_call_transcripts_show_how_hard_it_is_to_make_deals_with_world.html

Edited August 3, 2017 by Jingthing

[darksidedog]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

I am the world’s greatest person

A legend in his own tiny and crazy mind.

Funny that the "great negotiator" is revealed as unable to actually negotiate anything.

The word "loser" just keeps reverberating around in my head.

[thehelmsman]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

 

Agree with trump for once.

This is ridiculous. His entire presidency, that is. 

 

 

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/08/trump_s_phone_call_transcripts_show_how_hard_it_is_to_make_deals_with_world.html

I hope the traders leaking confidential phone call transcripts are charged.

[tonray]

I am beginning to think he is showing signs of dementia. If you read some of the transcripts of recent interviews with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, he rambles when asked specific questions and seems to forget what subject they were talking about. 

 

I have a feeling that Mattis and McMaster are very concerned about him having his hands on the nuclear codes. Bannon could not care less as he wants society destroyed and remade in Breitbart's vision, cannot let a senile old man get in the way of that.

[attrayant]

Pressured?  More like BEGGED.  This could be the start of the Trump World Groveling Tour.

 

Okay I'll say something nice.  At least this was a real phone call, not like the other two that Trump made up:

 

Boy Scouts 'Unaware' of Call Trump Said He Received From Organization Praising Jamboree Speech

 

Mexican president denies calling Trump to praise border work

Edited August 4, 2017 by attrayant

[klauskunkel]

Your words are so beautiful. Those are beautiful words and I do not think I can speak that beautifully, okay? When i see those beautiful lips forming these beautiful words my knees get weak and I feel the need to grope something. Will you be my Mexican Valentine?

Edited August 4, 2017 by klauskunkel
typo

[tonray]

If there ever was anyone unfit for office, even if he did not break any laws (doubtful), this is it. They can and should remove him just because he is really not able to govern our country. I mean, Pence is crazy as a loon and I expect executive orders against Gays, Marijuana, Atheism, and dining with a woman where alcohol is present.....but at least he is crazy that you can understand. Trump is off the rails incompetent. 15 months is what we need...I think no matter what, if Dems can take House then they stop everything, if Republicans retain control then they don't need Trump anymore and he is gone. In fact, one could make the case that Democratic takeover of just the House is less likely to result in Trump's removal from office.

[JCauto]

1 hour ago, thehelmsman said:

I hope the traders leaking confidential phone call transcripts are charged.

So leaking phone call transcripts is being a "trader" (I think you meant "traitor", no?).

 

What about openly courting one of your traditional enemies to assist you to win the election and otherwise compromising yourself? Would that not be even more traitorous?

 

Dutch Reagan is spinning in his grave.

[thehelmsman]

10 minutes ago, JCauto said:

So leaking phone call transcripts is being a "trader" (I think you meant "traitor", no?).

 

What about openly courting one of your traditional enemies to assist you to win the election and otherwise compromising yourself? Would that not be even more traitorous?

 

Dutch Reagan is spinning in his grave.

Can't justify our own people leaking private phone conversations between world leaders. What Trump did or didn't do seems to be just speculation by bitter people.

[Bluespunk]

Day after day, in every way, the delusions and lunacy of the grand poobah of trumptopia becomes clearer. 

 

God help us all (and I say that as an atheist). 

Edited August 4, 2017 by Bluespunk

[JCauto]

2 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Can't justify our own people leaking private phone conversations between world leaders. What Trump did or didn't do seems to be just speculation by bitter people.

I see. So "speculation by bitter people" includes investigation by the former head of the FBI, a lifelong Republican? Interesting. BTW he just impaneled a Grand Jury. Seems perhaps a bit more than speculative.

So I guess one of your life mottos is "where there's smoke, there's nothing to see here, let's move on!"

[ilostmypassword]

8 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Can't justify our own people leaking private phone conversations between world leaders. What Trump did or didn't do seems to be just speculation by bitter people.

Well, anyone who has bothered to read the full transcript of the conversation between Trump and Nieto knows that Trump is conceding that his call for Mexico to pay for the wall is bullsh*t. He is asking the Mexican President just to stay quiet about it so that some arrangement can be made that won't actually cost Mexico anything.

[Jingthing]

Possibly connected to the release of this call which does show what everyone with a brain already knew, that Mexico is never going to pay for the wall, that trump just used it to demagogue xenophobia, and also of course the literal wall will probably never be built anyway -- trump last night appeared at one of his scary Mussolini style rallies aimed at his white poorly educated base and did not mention either the wall or the Mexicans paying for it. That's a standard of his Mussolini style rallies. Did he drop it because he realizes he's been busted and even the West Virginian yahoos in the crowd might get that? But in defense of his situation with the Russia investigation, he did whip up the crowd to divert to totally irrelevant Hillary Clinton so they would chant Lock Her Up. Hmm. Lock who up?

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-trump-were-an-immigrant-hed-probably-be-deported/2017/08/03/50a84702-7889-11e7-9eac-d56bd5568db8_story.html

 

Quote

If Trump were an immigrant, he’d probably be deported

 

Edited August 4, 2017 by Jingthing

[ilostmypassword]

Anyone interested in journalistic fraudulence should visit Foxnews.com and Breitbart.com to see how they reported this news. By very selective editing, they made it seem as though Trump was standing up for his policy of making Mexico pay rather than conceding it was a fake. And since most of their viewers never stray from the right wing bubble, they'll believe it.

[iReason]

29 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Can't justify our own people leaking private phone conversations between world leaders. 

What Trump did or didn't do seems to be just speculation by bitter people.

 

"What Trump did or didn't do seems to be just speculation by bitter people."

 

Not sure if you are on the wrong thread with that one.

 

But, if it pertains to this topic, as does your first sentence;

Not speculation at all.

The conversations are right there in black and white.

[farcanell]

"I am alarmed at leaks of conversations between two heads of state," Democratic U.S. Senator Brian Schatz wrote on Twitter. "It doesn't matter what I think of this president, this is terrible."

 

duh... here's an idea... stop twittering!

here's another.... be professional!

 

trumps next toilet twitter will be to inform his fan base that he will fire the Mexican president... and that Trumbull bloke from Austria!

[Morch]

Cringeworthy.

If he was a private, nicer person, I'd feel sorry for him and his family.

[maewang99]

what an easy job this has become.

imagine one of Ike's days... or Kennedy's..... where they seriously considered stuff such as "will the Russians be okay if all we can offer is an apology.... if some of our Minuteman missiles were launched off by an electrical accident and 10 or 20 million Russians were killed?"... versus spending ten million dollars to prevent an electrical glitch in the first place and that we just learned about?

that kind of stuff. 

instead the worst thing Trump has to face is an obviously quite sane North Korean guy who wants to join the same power club just about everyone else already belongs to.... and get Mexico to shut up about the damn wall, which we already have one of.

that and what to spend money on next? in the trillions.



 



 

 

Edited August 4, 2017 by maewang99

[iReason]

 

Full transcripts here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/australia-mexico-transcripts/?utm_term=.09005c5b1b59

Edited August 4, 2017 by iReason

[joecoolfrog]

3 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

Can't justify our own people leaking private phone conversations between world leaders. What Trump did or didn't do seems to be just speculation by bitter people.

Well given the President is a liar and the White House evasive , how can we end speculation and clarify the true facts ?

[iReason]

One week in and the bloviating inept one unashamedly reveals that his "big beautiful wall" was simply a ruse aimed at the suckers:

 

"But you cannot say anymore that the united states is going to pay for the wall."

"I’m just going to say we are working it out."

"Believe it or not this is the least most important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important."

http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-trump-calls-border-wall-the-least-1501779387-htmlstory.html

 

 

 

"Believe it or not this is the least most important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important."

[Thakkar]

 

[Thakkar]

5 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well, anyone who has bothered to read the full transcript of the conversation between Trump and Nieto knows that Trump is conceding that his call for Mexico to pay for the wall is bullsh*t. He is asking the Mexican President just to stay quiet about it so that some arrangement can be made that won't actually cost Mexico anything.

Also shows Trump's true disdain for the suckers that voted for him. I read the full transcripts. It's clear that Trump was asking the Mexican President to help by gouging along with Trump's ruse so as to continue fooling his supporters.

 

T

[Berkshire]

5 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well, anyone who has bothered to read the full transcript of the conversation between Trump and Nieto knows that Trump is conceding that his call for Mexico to pay for the wall is bullsh*t. He is asking the Mexican President just to stay quiet about it so that some arrangement can be made that won't actually cost Mexico anything.

Yeap, Trump has never cared about "making America great again" or keeping his campaign promises.  He just wants his nutbag supporters to "think" that he's doing it. 

[simple1]

From an Australian POV it is very disappointing to read that the PM clearly stated to Trump Oz government policy is to take in 90% Christians in the one off deal for 12,000 Syrian refugees. The Oz government has repeatedly denied their is policy preference for Christian refugees so we have the PM, whom I voted for, lying though his teeth. Additionally Oz government has always stated those to be transferred to the US were positively vetted asylum seekers complying to the UN definition of a refugee, yet now says they are economic refugees, either a blatant lie to Trump or the Australian people.

 

Reading the transcript has put a nail in the coffin for me concerning the current political leadership of Australia who I had supported. It seems to me the only person with integrity, from the transcript, was the Mexican President. For me, Trump has confirmed his lack of suitability to hold the Office of President of the USA.

 

Thanks for reading & hopefully acceptable to the Mods.

[thehelmsman]

8 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well, anyone who has bothered to read the full transcript of the conversation between Trump and Nieto knows that Trump is conceding that his call for Mexico to pay for the wall is bullsh*t. He is asking the Mexican President just to stay quiet about it so that some arrangement can be made that won't actually cost Mexico anything.

I seriously doubt anyone who voted for Trump actually believed Mexico would  pay for the "Wall"

Any sensible person knew he was just blowing smoke.

 

Don't take Trump's words literally but, tale him seriously.

[iReason]

4 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

I seriously doubt anyone who voted for Trump actually believed Mexico would  pay for the "Wall"

Any sensible person knew he was just blowing smoke.

 

Don't take Trump's words literally but, tale him seriously.

 

[attrayant]

4 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Any sensible person knew he was just blowing smoke.

 

Blowing smoke = lying.

 

 

Quote

Don't take Trump's words literally but, tale him seriously.

 

Unacceptable.  I want a world leader who speaks in plain English, not used-care-salesman double-talk.

[dunroaming]

5 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

I seriously doubt anyone who voted for Trump actually believed Mexico would  pay for the "Wall"

Any sensible person knew he was just blowing smoke.

 

Don't take Trump's words literally but, tale him seriously.

But he ran his campaign promising he would do all these things and people took him at his word and voted for him.  Then he failed to deliver on the pledges.  On which bit do you suggest we take him seriously?  Promising he would do something or failing to do it?