Mexican President Denies Trump’s Assertion That She Agreed to Shut Down

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‘We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples,’ Sheinbaum said.

One day after the two leaders spoke, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo denied U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that Mexico would close its border with the United States.

“Everyone has their own way of communicating, but I can assure you, I give you the certainty that we would never—and we would be incapable of it—propose that we would close the border,” Sheinbaum said during a regular morning news conference on Nov. 28.

“It has never been our approach, and of course, we don’t agree with that.”

Trump had said the evening before that the two had a “productive conversation” after he reiterated earlier in the week his intentions to apply a 25 percent tariff on all exports entering the United States from Mexico and Canada. Trump suggested the tariffs would be retaliation for illegal immigration, crime, and drug trafficking across the northern and southern borders.

“[Sheinbaum] has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs,” Trump wrote in a pair of Truth Social posts.

“Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately.”

Minutes later, Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X that she had an “excellent conversation with President Donald Trump,” discussing her country’s continued efforts to alleviate the border crisis by helping migrants before they attempt the journey.

“We discussed Mexico’s strategy on the migration phenomenon, and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico,” she wrote in Spanish.

“I explained to [Trump] the comprehensive strategy that Mexico has followed to address the migration phenomenon, respecting human rights,” Sheinbaum said. “Thanks to this, migrants and caravans are assisted before they arrive at the border. We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”

Previously, the Mexican president said her country has worked with the Biden-Harris administration to slow the flow of migrants over the border, leading to a 75 percent reduction in border crossings over the past 12 months. After speaking with Trump by phone, Sheinbaum did not discuss any new policies related to immigration or efforts to prevent potential tariffs and instead explained the ways Mexico has already tried to address the border crisis.

Before the two leaders spoke, Sheinbaum had said she would try to work with Trump, but that Mexico would impose retaliatory tariffs if the president-elect followed through on his original threat.

“One tariff will follow another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” she said.

On Wednesday, Trump did not comment on the tariff threat or if he had discussed it during his conversation with Sheinbaum. Both Sheinbaum’s office and the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment after their phone call.

President Joe Biden criticized the tariff threat while speaking with reporters on Thursday.

“I hope he rethinks it, and I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do,” Biden said. “The last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships” with Mexico and Canada.

Trump has also suggested he would impose tariffs of 60 to 100 percent on China’s exports that reach U.S. soil.

Last month, the Department of Justice indicted eight Chinese companies, alleging they were manufacturing and distributing the precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate that has led to tens of thousands of deaths in the United States every year.

The Chinese Community Party (CCP) has been blamed for allowing these precursor chemicals to flow into countries like Mexico, Canada, and the United States, further exacerbating the fentanyl epidemic.

The Chinese regime has denied the accusations.

“The idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement.

“About the issue of U.S. tariffs on China, China believes that China–U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature.

“No one will win a trade war or a tariff war.”