(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump reacted to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s demand for additional aid from the U.S. to crack down on illegal immigration through his country, warning that he won’t give Mexico “10 cents” if he’s elected in November.
Obrador made the demand last month during an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, arguing the Biden administration must invest more resources into addressing the “root causes” of illegal immigration.
“On 60 Minutes, the president of Mexico says, ‘We’re not going to shut down our border until you change your policy on Cuba and change your policy on Venezuela.’ Is it OK for the Mexican president to dictate American policy?” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade asked Trump on Friday.
Trump: I say it at my rallies we are a nation in decline Kilmeade: but fixable Trump: totally fixable but we have to do it fast – tell you what the most important day in the… pic.twitter.com/fmPw8ucBZm
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Trump pointed out that Obrador was essentially extorting President Joe Biden, and blasted Biden for allowing him to do it.
“Well, he said much more than that. He said he wants $10 billion essentially just to talk, $10 billion to talk, and that’s come out since, and no, that wouldn’t happen with me, with the wall,” he said.
Trump famously forced the newly elected socialist leader to the bargaining table by threatening to halt all exports or impose a massive tariff on trade if Mexico refused to accept back the illegal immigrants it was allowing to cross.
The country recently said once again that it would refuse to accept any non-Mexicans, even if Mexico was their country of origin, should the state of Texas try to deport them.
The reason for the disparity in treatment is “very simple: lack of respect for the president,” Trump noted.
“They would never say that to me,” he continued. “They would never say before we even talk. They want $10 billion a year, Mexico just asked for $10 billion a year. They would never ask it. I wouldn’t give them 10 cents,”
Trump went on to warn Americans that November’s election will be the “most important day in the history of our country.”
The U.S. “is going bad, and it’s going to be changed on Nov. 5, and if it’s not changed, we’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said.
Obrador’s list of demands for the Biden administration included $20 billion a year in aid to Latin America countries, lifted sanctions on Venezuela, the end of the Cuban embargo, and the legalization of millions of illegal Mexicans living in the U.S.
