Donald Trump can’t resist a good plot twist on the campaign trail. After over a year of railing against Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and just about every other immigrant and minority in the United States, Trump has announced he is heading to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with the country’s president. He tweeted out … oh wait, that’s an iPhone tag … so his campaign staff tweeted out news of the trip late Tuesday. Shortly after, President Enrique Peña Nieto’s official account tweeted out confirmation of the intended visit.A rough translation of President Nieto’s tweets is that he extended an invitation to both presidential candidates to come visit Mexico, and Trump accepted. Nieto also says that he “believe[s] in dialogue to promote the interests of Mexico in the world and, mainly, to protect Mexicans wherever they are.” Which, by the sounds of things, means that he is at least acutely aware of Trump’s threats against the country’s citizens and the pledge to build a wall on the Mexico-US border.
Importantly, this visit isn’t a meeting between one maligned presidential candidate and a beloved leader of a foreign country. Nieto is polling at just 23% according to Washington Post contributor Gabe Ortíz.From the looks of things, this visit is a photo op for both parties being set up to try and turn the tide of public opinion their way. From the looks of things, the Mexican populace is decidedly unhappy about the development.
Based on the sheer amount of jokes about building the border wall right after Trump crosses the line, US citizens are taking the meeting announcement with a little more levity. Even if it is one of the crazier things that Trump has done during this election cycle. The details of this meeting will surely be interesting to hear about after the fact. That is, if the news even gets wind of what goes down behind closed doors.And it looks like Trump will have more company than usual — in the form of former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
