Mexico's Peña Nieto trumped in bizarre meeting

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto received Donald Trump for a private meeting in Mexico City on Wednesday, an event that some hoped would herald a new direction in the Republican presidential candidate's campaign.

Back in the US later in the day, however, Trump returned to his aggressive rhetoric.

With his support floundering in the polls, Trump's visit to Mexico had been seen both as a bridge-building exercise with the government of a nation he has alienated with his inflammatory comments and as a means of reaching out to the Latino community in the US, a highly influential demographic that Trump has so far made no attempt to court.

Peña Nieto's invitation, which he also extended to Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, was the cause of much criticism and derision in Mexico, given Trump's harsh comments regarding the country over the last year and his stated intention to build a wall along the nations' 3,000km common border.

The wall proposal has caused outrage in Mexico, not least due to Trump's claim that he will make Mexico finance the project, together with Trump's proposal to repatriate some 11mn illegal immigrants. 

But it appears there is already a wall between the two men, with Peña Nieto having contradicted Trump regarding what was discussed during their meeting.

"We did discuss the wall," Trump said in a post-meeting joint press conference. "We didn't discuss payment of the wall." 

But later in the afternoon, Peña Nieto tweeted: "At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall."

During a speech in the evening in Arizona, Trump repeated his pledge to deport illegal immigrants and build the wall – and to make Mexico fund it.

Peña Nieto's invitation to meet with Trump ushered the theme to the forefront of the possible future bilateral relationship, and may force Trump to moderate his proposals during the final two months of campaigning, or at the very least tone down his rhetoric. 

After the meeting, Peña Nieto issued a statement in which he set out to justify his invitation to Trump and described their conversation as "open and constructive," while addressing the Republican candidate to reiterate comments made during their meeting, reminding Trump that "Mexicans deserve respect."

"We may not agree on diverse themes, but your presence here, Mr Trump, shows that we agree on one fundamental thing: our respective countries are very important to each other."

"Mexicans in the US are honest and good, hard working people who respect families, respect community life and respect the law," he added, alluding to Trump's claims during his campaign that Mexicans entering the US illegally are criminals and rapists.  

Peña Nieto added that the US-Mexico border should become an asset to the region, and both countries must accelerate efforts to make it more efficient and secure.

Trump has also warned in campaign speeches that if Mexico does not agree to renegotiate the Nafta free trade agreement, the US will withdraw from it. 

And in his post-meeting statement, Peña Nieto remained diplomatic, expressing his willingness to "build a route to modernizing Nafta" to ensure better quality and better paid jobs in both countries. But his comments were quickly drowned out by Trump's braggadocio.

In the end, it seemed the meeting had little impact on the rhetoric or manifesto of either leader, perhaps serving only to reignite anti-immigrant sentiment among Trump's supporters and give new traction to his faltering campaign.

Trump doubtless got what he wanted, but for Peña Nieto the benefits were not so clear.