Donald Trump threatens to send US troops into Mexico unless the government stops the ‘bad hombres down there’
TOUGH-talking US President Donald Trump reportedly warned Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto that he would send American troops into Mexico to stop the "bad hombres";.
And Trump accused his neighbour's military of being "scared" according to a transcript of the call obtained by the Associated Press.
Trump and Pena were meant to be patching things up after a series of public spats over his determination to have Mexico pay for the planned border wall.
But the excerpt given to AP reveals Trump told Pena on Friday: "You have a bunch of bad hombres down there.
"You aren't doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared.
"Our military isn't, so I just might send them down to take care of it."
The excerpt of the did not make clear exactly who Trump meant drug cartels or immigrants when he referred to "bad Hombres".
Eduardo Sanchez, spokesman for Mexico's presidential office, denied the tone of the conversation was hostile or humiliating, saying it was respectful.
"It is absolutely false that the president of the United States threatened to send troops to Mexico," Sanchez said in an interview with Radio Formula on Wednesday night.
A White House spokesman did not respond to requests for comment, but last week Trump said the tone was "friendly" when he met UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
During his election campaign Trump infamously called Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals” as he pledged to construct a barrier to keep out Latino migrants.
Mexico’s president has slammed Trump’s plans and says the country will not pay a penny for it.
He branded Trump a “threat” and cancelled a planned trip to Washington as his war of words with Mr Trump escalated.
This fresh fight with Mexico last week arose over trade as the White House talked of a 20 percent tax on imports to finance the wall.
The US and Mexico conduct some $1.6 billion a day in cross-border trade, and cooperate on everything from migration to anti-drug enforcement to major environmental issues.
Trump has tasked his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner a real estate executive with no foreign policy experience with managing the ongoing dispute, according to an administration source.
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