Advertisement

Obama, Nieto tout U.S.-Mexico relations, react to Trump's immigration remarks

Obama responded to the Republican Party's stance on immigration during a meeting with Mexico's president Friday.

By Doug G. Ware
U.S. President Barack Obama and President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Friday. Both leaders addressed issues including immigration and the economy of both countries. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI
1 of 5 | U.S. President Barack Obama and President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Friday. Both leaders addressed issues including immigration and the economy of both countries. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto offered a response Friday to Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention, during which he pledged to seal the southern border to keep out immigrants.

The presidents met at the White House to discuss and celebrate U.S.-Mexico relations. Both leaders praised the diplomacy of the neighboring governments and expressed hope it will continue.

Advertisement

"I'm confident that our nations will continue to grow even stronger and more prosperous together," Obama said during a joint news conference with Nieto. "We're not just strategic or economic partners -- we're neighbors, and we're friends."

President Barack Obama/Twitter

"[The United States] has been a very good neighbor, [Obama] has been a very good neighbor," Nieto said through an interpreter. "I would also like to recognize his administration, the decisive support favoring migrants."

Advertisement

Immigration, usually on the agenda when U.S. and Mexican leaders meet, took on additional significance at Friday's meeting -- hours after Republican presidential nominee Trump highlighted the issue at the GOP convention in Cleveland.

President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto speaks during a joint press conference with President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. During the meet, Obama criticized remarks on immigration by GOP nominee Donald Trump during his acceptance speech at the party's convention in Cleveland Tuesday night. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI

In his remarks, Trump reiterated his intention to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out crime, drugs and undocumented immigrants -- a plan that's been roundly criticized by the Obama administration, Democrats and some Republicans.

"This idea that America is somehow on the verge of collapse -- this vision of violence and chaos everywhere doesn't really jibe with the experience of most people," Obama said of Trump's comments. "We are not going to make good decisions based on fears that don't have a basis in fact."

Advertisement

Nieto kept his response diplomatic, saying he respects both Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

RELATED Photos: Highlights from the 2016 Republican National Convention

"The Mexican government will be observing with great interest the electoral process," he said, "But it will not give its opinion -- it will not get involved."

Nieto has in the past unfavorably compared Trump to dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini -- and has said there's "no way" his government will build a border wall and pay for its construction, as Trump has advocated.

Obama said he didn't watch the GOP convention or Trump's speech, but read about the four-day event in various news coverage.

"The Republicans had an opportunity this week to share their vision with the country and emphasize those issues they thought were important. I'm going to let the American people judge how persuasive their arguments were," he said.

Latest Headlines