Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has defended the right of the US to build a wall along its southern border during his visit to Mexico, but stirred controversy after his claim of not having discussed who would pay for it was disputed by the Mexican President.
“We did discuss the wall. We didn’t discuss payment of the wall. That’ll be for a later date. This was a very preliminary meeting,” Trump told reporters at a joint news conference with President Enrique Peña Nieto after the meeting between the two leaders on Wednesday.
The Mexican president did not respond at that point, but later tweeted, “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.”
Building a massive wall along the US border with Mexico and forcing the neighbouring country to pay for it has been a frequent promise during Trump’s divisive election campaign.
He argued yesterday that having a secure border is a sovereign right and is mutually beneficial for both countries.