Former President Donald Trump claimed that the Mexican president’s conditions for helping the United States secure the border are evidence of his “lack of respect” for President Joe Biden.
During a Fox News interview on Sunday, President Trump recalled that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had demanded $10 billion from the Biden administration just to start border talks.
“He [Mr. López Obrador] said he wants $10 billion essentially just to talk, $10 billion to talk, and that’s come out since. And no, that wouldn’t happen with me, with the wall,” the former president told the news outlet.
Mr. López Obrador demanded in January that the United States send $20 billion a year to Latin American nations, lift its sanctions on Venezuela, and end the decades-long embargo on Cuba in exchange for help with combattting illegal immigration at the border.
He asked the United States to legalize the millions of illegal immigrants from Mexico currently living in the country. Mr. López Obrador said “the flow of migrants” will continue if the country fails to meet these requests.
President Trump suggested that the United States wouldn’t face such demands under his leadership. “It’s very simple: lack of respect for the president. They would never say that to me. They would never say before we even talk. They want $10 billion a year, Mexico just asked for $10 billion a year. They would never ask it. I wouldn’t give them 10 cents,” the former president said.
