ADDS REMARKS FROM MEXICAN PRESIDENT
By Diyar Guldogan and Jorge Antonio Rocha
WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had a "very productive" phone conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
"It went extremely well for both Countries. Much of it was focused on the Border, stopping Drug Trafficking, and Trade," he said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said that he and Sheinbaum plan to continue discussions and are expected to arrange in-person meetings in the future, both in the US and Mexico.
"We will be speaking again soon and ultimately setting up meetings in our respective countries," he said.
The president also praised Sheinbaum, calling her “a wonderful and highly intelligent leader,” adding that Mexico “should be very happy about that.”
Sheinbaum echoed Trump’s assessment, describing the phone call as “polite” in a post on the US social media company X’s platform.
“We held a productive and cordial conversation with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. We continue to make progress on trade issues and the bilateral relationship,” she said.
During her daily briefing shortly after the call, she provided limited details on what was discussed, with trade and security emerging as the main topics.
“We are doing well,” she said.
On trade, Sheinbaum noted that little had been finalized regarding the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is up for renegotiation this year, although discussions on trade cooperation and tariffs remain ongoing.
“We continue to make progress both on the tariffs currently in place and on what they call ‘non-tariff barriers,’ as well as on the issues they are interested in for the review of the agreement. But beyond that, there is nothing concrete in particular,” she said.
The Trump administration has made security and trade the hallmarks of its foreign policy toward Mexico, leveraging the deep commercial ties between the two countries through tariff threats to pressure Sheinbaum to strengthen security efforts within her country.
Trump has also insisted on carrying out direct military actions on Mexican soil to supposedly curb the flow of narcotics into the US.
According to Sheinbaum, during their phone conversation, they agreed to continue with the current bilateral framework, which so far has resulted in major narcotics seizures and the extradition of 92 high-profile criminals to the US.
However, she stressed that all actions taken against drug cartels in Mexico are carried out by Mexico’s Armed Forces, without any form of interference or participation by US authorities.
“It must be very clear that we do not accept joint operations. We always tell President Trump that, and they have seen that we are making very good progress,” Sheinbaum said.