Mexican, US leaders meet for first time at G20

By Nancy Caouette

MEXICO CITY

President Enrique Pena Nieto and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, held their first official meeting Friday they said allowed them to strengthen cooperation and discuss renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“We're negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico and we'll see how it all turns out, but I think that we've made very good progress,” Trump said at a joint news conference following the 30-minute talk on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

Enrique Pena Nieto said he was sure the meeting "will contribute to having a fluid dialogue’’ when both men renegotiate the massive free-trade deal that includes Canada, and work together on security issues.

"We will continue working on cooperation, especially for the security of our countries, and also work on the migration issue that is a task that occupies both governments," he said, adding that both countries recognize their ‘’joint responsibility’’ to fight organized crime.

Trump was asked if Mexico would have to pay for a controversial border wall between the two countries the U.S. president has touted since he was a presidential candidate.

“Absolutely,” was Trump’s response. Pena Nieto had no comment.

Pena Nieto canceled a meeting with Trump that was scheduled for Jan. 31, amid the controversy regarding the construction and the payment of the wall.

The Mexican president was sharply criticized at home last August for receiving Trump who was a presidential candidate at the time.