The conversation comes one day after the president of Mexico issued a warning to Trump about his intentions to apply a 25 percent tariff on all Mexican exports.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Nov. 27 that he had just spoken with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and that Mexico agreed to prevent illegal immigrants from going to the southern border “effective immediately.”
Trump disclosed in two posts on Truth Social Wednesday evening the conversation with Sheinbaum about tightening the U.S.-Mexico border and working to reduce the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“Just had a wonderful conversation with the new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border,” Trump wrote in the first post. “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.”
In the second post, the president-elect said “Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. This will go a long way toward stopping the illegal invasion of the USA. Thank you!”
The two nations’ leaders talked just one day after Sheinbaum said she would seek dialogue with Trump after he reiterated his threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on exports from both Mexico and Canada, citing illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
In response, Sheinbaum said she would work to impose a retaliatory tariff on the United States’ exports into her country.
“One tariff will follow another and so on, until we put our common businesses at risk,” she said.
The leader also suggested that her administration has indicated Mexico’s willingness to assist in ending the United States’ fentanyl epidemic. Sheinbaum said that illegal border crossings are down while immigrant caravans are no longer crossing the southern border.
Sheinbaum also appeared to put the blame on Americans for consuming the trafficked drugs and American companies for manufacturing the guns that she alleged flow into Mexico and are used by cartels.
“We do not produce weapons, we do not consume the synthetic drugs. Unfortunately, we have the people who are being killed by crime that is responding to the demand in your country,” she said, noting that Chinese companies are blamed for producing fentanyl’s precursor chemicals.
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.
Reuters and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.