Trump accused of forcing Mexican president to pay for border wall

The Washington Post published the content of a call, in which the US President asked his Mexican counterpart to stop saying "Mexico is not paying for the border wall".

US President Donald Trump (right) and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto. Photo: Reuters.

“You can’t answer the press like that,” US President Donald Trump told his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto in a January phone call, according to a transcript of the call published by the Washington Post on August 3. “If you insist that Mexico is not paying for the wall, I don’t want to meet with you anymore because I can’t accept that.”

According to the transcript, Trump admitted to Nieto that both men had “political problems” over who would pay for the border wall.

"My people will say 'Mexico has to pay' and your people may say something similar, but a little different," Trump said. "I have to make Mexico pay for the wall. I've been talking about it for two years."

Mr Trump is said to have told Mr Nieto that they should both reply "we'll work it out" if asked who would pay.

“It will be resolved by some formula, instead of you saying ‘we don’t pay’ and I say the same,” Trump said.

The White House and the Mexican Foreign Ministry have not commented on the Washington Post's report.

The US government is trying to keep its promise to build a border wall to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, one of Mr Trump's main campaign promises. The White House has said the US will pay up front to start the project and then ask Mexico to reimburse it.

According to VNE