After railing at Mexico virtually on a daily basis for over 14 months of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was all-set on Wednesday for a surprise visit to that country following a no less surprising invitation from its President, Enrique Pena Nieto.
The quick day-trip comes just hours before the Republican presidential nominee delivers a highly-anticipated speech in Arizona on the ticklish immigration issue, specifically on dealing with 11 million illegal immigrants, the bulk of them from Mexico.
“I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow,” Trump tweeted late on Tuesday night. The Mexican President’s office confirmed it, saying the two would be meeting “in private”.
Pena Nieto, it turns out, had on Friday extended invitations to both Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, to visit Mexico for a “dialogue on the bilateral relations”. Asked if Clinton, too, would undertake a visit, a campaign official said she has “not yet accepted” the invitation.
In what has been a constant refrain of his campaign, Trump has held Mexico responsible for the influx of criminals, rapists and other illegal immigrants even while touting his plan for mass deportations and building a wall along the US-Mexico border.
In recent days, however, Trump, assailed by poor poll numbers and faced with the near-impossible task of winning over Hispanic voters, has been waffling on the issue of mass deportations even while appearing to be resolute on his wall project.
The Mexican President for his part has also been dismissive of the New York billionaire, comparing his rhetoric to the likes of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini. And he has contemptuously dismissed Trump’s idea of Mexico putting the bill for any wall.
Soon after his meeting with the Mexican leader, Trump will be heading back to Phoenix, Arizona to ostensibly clarify his position once and for all on the immigration issue and his proposed creation of a “deportation force” to drive out the millions of illegal immigrants.
Accompanying Trump to Mexico will be two of his trusted advisers -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator Jeff Sessions -- and son-in-law Jared Kushner, said media accounts.
Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway termed it a “decisive presidential move” to have accepted the invitation. “He wants to establish a conversation with a neighboring country, a leader, and also to discuss the common problems and challenges that our countries face,” she said, adding: “I’m sorry that Secretary Clinton is not going and has not accepted the invitation.”
The Clinton campaign asked voters not to be “fooled” by Trump’s attempts to disguise his immigration policies.