Trump threatens to send troops into Mexico to take care of the "bad hombres"

[Aegon]

Trump to Mexico: Take care of 'bad hombres' or US might

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump threatened in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart to send U.S. troops to stop "bad hombres down there" unless the Mexican military does more to control them, according to an excerpt of a transcript of the conversation obtained by The Associated Press.

The excerpt of the call did not detail who exactly Trump considered "bad hombres," nor did it make clear the tone and context of the remark, made in a Friday morning phone call between the leaders. It also did not contain Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's response.

Still, the excerpt offers a rare and striking look at how the new president is conducting diplomacy behind closed doors. Trump's remarks suggest he is using the same tough and blunt talk with world leaders that he used to rally crowds on the campaign trail.

A White House spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. The Mexican Foreign Relations Department told The AP: "The negative statements you refer to did not occur during said telephone call. On the contrary, the tone was constructive."

The phone call between the leaders was intended to patch things up between the new president and his ally. The two have had a series of public spats over Trump's determination to have Mexico pay for the planned border wall, something Mexico steadfastly refuses to agree to.

"You have a bunch of bad hombres down there," Trump told Pena Nieto, according to the excerpt given to AP. "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."

A person with access to the official transcript of the phone call provided only that portion of the conversation to The Associated Press. The person gave it on condition of anonymity because the administration did not make the details of the call public.

The Mexican website Aristegui Noticias on Tuesday published a similar account of the phone call, based on the reporting of journalist Dolia Estevez. The report described Trump as humiliating Pena Nieto in a confrontational conversation.

Mexico's foreign relations department denied that account, saying it "is based on absolute falsehoods."

Trump has used the phrase "bad hombres" before. In an October presidential debate, he vowed to get rid the U.S. of "drug lords" and "bad people."

"We have some bad hombres here, and we're going to get them out," he said. The phrase ricocheted on social media with Trump opponents saying he was denigrating immigrants.

Trump's comment was in line with the new administration's bullish stance on foreign policy matters in general, and the president's willingness to break long-standing norms around the globe.

Before his inauguration, Trump spoke to the president of Taiwan, breaking long-standing U.S. policy and irritating China. His temporary ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, aimed at reviewing screening procedures to lessen the threat of extremist attacks, has caused consternation around the world.

But nothing has created the level of bickering as the border wall, a centerpiece of his campaign. Mexico has consistently said it would not pay for the wall and opposes it. Before the phone call, Pena Nieto canceled a planned visit to the United States.

The fresh fight with Mexico last week arose over trade as the White House proposed a 20 percent tax on imports from the key U.S. ally to finance the wall after Pena Nieto abruptly scrapped his Jan. 31 trip to Washington.

The U.S. 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 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 official with knowledge of the call.

At a press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May last week, Trump described his call with Pena Nieto as "friendly."

In a statement, the White House said the two leaders acknowledged their "clear and very public differences" and agreed to work through the immigration disagreement as part of broader discussions on the relationship between their countries.

Holy hell. I'd laugh if it weren't so sad.

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But wait: there's more! I'm so glad we have a level-headed POTUS who knows how important the role of chief diplomat really is.

Report: Trump lashes out at Australian PM on phone call

President Trump may be off to a rocky start with one of the United States’ closest allies: Australia.

In a Saturday phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump lambasted an agreement between the two countries over refugee resettlement and bragged about the size of his Electoral College victory, as well as the fact that he had held several calls with other world leaders that same day, The Washington Post reports.

“This was the worst call by far,” Trump allegedly told Turnbull during their conversation, according to senior U.S. officials briefed on the phone call. Trump also spoke with Shinzo Abe of Japan, Angela Merkel of Germany, François Hollande of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia that day.

The account of the phone call seems to contradict that of the White House, which said that the two men “emphasized the enduring strength and closeness of the U.S.-Australia relationship that is critical for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.”
When Turnbull asked Trump if the U.S. would take in 1,250 refugees currently being held in Australia — an agreement that the two countries made under President Obama — Trump reportedly called it “the worst deal ever,” and suggested that Australia may be trying to send the U.S. “the next Boston bomber.”

The phone call was expected to last an hour. But after about 25 minutes, The Post reports, Trump suddenly ended it.

Separately, The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Trump told Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto during a Friday phone call that Mexico had “a bunch of bad hombres down there,” and threatened to send in the U.S. military to intervene.

The White House and Mexico’s government have both denied those reports.

Turnbull refused to comment on The Post’s report, but said the refugee agreement between the two countries would go ahead as planned.

"That assurance was confirmed by the President's spokesman in the briefing room of the White House,” Turnbull said at a press conference Tuesday. “And our respective officials, are continuing to work on the implementation of the arrangements. That's the position."

"These conversations are conducted candidly, frankly, privately. If you see reports of them, I'm not going to add to them," he continued.