Donald Trump says Mexico WILL pay for wall on US border… but country’s president says ‘no chance’
Republican candidate slapped down by Mexican leader after hardline speech on immigration
DONALD Trump insisted last night Mexico will "100 per cent" pay for a giant wall along the USA border - but the Mexican president hit back: "No we won't".
The Republican candidate repeated his pledge to construct a "beautiful" 2,000-mile barrier in a hardline speech on immigration just hours after a surprise visit to Mexico City.
He told a cheering crowd in Phoenix, Arizona: "We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall. One hundred per cent.
"They don't know it yet, but they're going to pay for it."
He was immediately rebuked by Mexico's president Enrique Pena Nieto, who branded Mr Trump a "threat" to his country following their frosty meeting yesterday.
He tweeted: "At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump I made clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall."
Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton seized on Mr Pena Nieto's comments, saying it showed Mr Trump "lied" when he said he did not discuss who would pay for the wall during his visit.
She tweeted: "Trump just failed his first foreign test. Diplomacy isn't as easy as it looks."
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Mr Pena Nieta faced criticism at home after inviting Mr Trump to visit - after he had called Mexicans "rapists and criminals" during his campaign for the Republican nomination.
The Mexican leader responded by comparing the loudmouth Apprentice USA host to Hitler and Mussolini.
Mr Trump struck a conciliatory tone after helicoptering in for the visit, playing the statesman as he spoke of his "tremendous feeling" for Mexicans working in the US.
He discussed with Mr Pena Nieta how the two countries would work together, despite having earlier threatened to axe trade deals.
In a tense press conference, the Mexican leader could not hide his feelings for Mr Trump, whose visit was met with angry protests in the capital.
He said: "Mexican people felt hurt by the comments made. But I'm sure that the genuine interest is to build a relationship that will give both of our societies better welfare."
Later in Phoenix Mr Trump returned to his hardline stance as he vowed to boot out two million "criminal aliens" in his first hour in the White House.
He also plans to set up a "special deportation force" and warned 11 million undocumented immigrants they could be kicked out.
He also wants "extreme vetting" of immigrants applying to live in the US with an ideological test to ensure they share "American values".
He added: "Our message to the world will be this: you cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country.
"You can't just smuggle in, hunker down and wait to be legalised. Those days are over."
Mr Pena Nieto was blasted by critics for giving Mr Trump's campaign a boost by inviting him to visit.
He defending himself, saying: "His policy stances could represent a huge threat to Mexico, and I am not prepared to keep my arms crossed and do nothing.
"That risk, that threat, must be confronted. I told him that is not the way to build a mutually beneficial relationship for both nations."
One Mexican expert on relations between the two nations slammed the visit.
Dr Jose Luis Orozco said: "Trump has based much of his campaign upon insulting Mexico, yet this country’s president drops everything to meet with him when he needs a PR boost in Arizona. It’s utterly humiliating.
"He has insulted the Mexican people continuously, and spoken often of his ‘Iron Curtain’ policy with the USA’s southern border.