Mexican President to Trump: Take Your ‘Frustration’ Out on Congress, Not Us

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto delivered a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump in a speech Thursday, insisting his country will “not allow negative rhetoric to define our actions.” “President Trump: If you wish to reach agreements with Mexico, we stand ready, as we have proved until now, always willing to engage in a dialogue, acting in earnestness, in good faith and in a constructive spirit,” he said during a national address. “If your recent statements are the result of frustration due to domestic policy issues, [due] to your laws or to your Congress, it is to them that you should turn to, not to Mexicans.” Earlier in the day, Trump spent several minutes railing against illegal immigration at a tax reform roundtable in West Virginia. He also brought up the “caravan” of migrants traveling to the U.S. through Mexico—and even referenced his 2015 presidential announcement speech, when he said Mexico is “not sending their best... They’re rapists.” “Remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower when I opened? Everybody said, ‘Oh, he was so tough.’ I used the word ‘rape,’” Trump said Thursday. “And yesterday it came out where this journey coming up, women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before.”