Trump, Mexican President Peña Nieto have phone call
President Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke on the phone for an hour Friday morning amid rising tensions over Mr. Trump’s proposal for a southern border wall, a White House official confirmed to CBS News.
Mr. Trump and Peña Nieto were supposed to meet in Washington next week, on Tuesday, but the Mexican president said Thursday that he was canceling the visit after Mr. Trump moved forward with plans to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and have Mexico pay for construction. After the president’s plans were announced, Peña Nieto said he regretted Mr. Trump’s decision and reiterated Mexico’s refusal to pay for the wall.
Following the cancellation, the president’s spokesman said the White House would seek to pay for the border wall by slapping a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico - as well as other countries with a trade deficit with the U.S. The White House later cast the proposal as just one option to pay for the wall.
CBS News’ Arden Farhi contributed to this report