The U.S President Donald Trump said that he obviously never meant Mexico would write a cheque, in spite of his repeated promises that Mexico would pay for a wall on U.S southern border. Trump’s website for his 2016 campaign had previously stated that the border country would make a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion. The president recently claimed that Mexico would pay for the wall through changes to trade policy his administration has negotiated to replace the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).
It was a new deal among the United States-Mexico-Canada and the agreement was called USMCA. It hasn’t been approved by the U.S Congress yet, but the president said on Thursday that it probably will be. Trump said on Thursday that the USMCA will mean Mexico will be paying for wall indirectly. He then boarded Air Force One to fly to McAllen, Texas, where he hopes to drum up support for congressional approval for U.S taxpayer funding to construct the border wall.
The 2016 promise that Mexico will directly pay for the wall was also included in pay for the wall memo Trump’s team issued early that year. It was proposed to pressure Mexico by cutting off remittances sent from undocumented Mexicans in the United States. It proposed amending the Patriot Act, passed after the 9/11 attacks. The memo said, “It’s an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion in remittances continues to flow into their country year after year. We have the leverage, so Mexico will back down”.