In bizarre call to Mexico’s president, Trump said he might send US troops there to fight ‘bad hombres’
‘I think your military is scared. Our military isn’t, so I just might send them down to take care of it’: Trump to Mexico’s president
US President Donald Trump issued a bizarre threat to his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto, that he would send US troops to fight “bad hombres down there” unless the Mexican military does more to control them itself, according to an excerpt of a transcript of their phone conversation.
The unusual excerpt of the call did not make clear who exactly Trump considered “bad hombres,” — drug cartels, immigrants, or both — or the tone and context of the remark, made in a Friday morning phone call between the leaders. It also did not contain President 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 remark 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.
Watch: Wax versions of Trump, Pene Nieto meet in Mexico City
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.