President Obama offered some sarcastic words of encouragement for Donald Trump on Tuesday, after the Republican frontrunner shared that he would force Mexico to pay for a border wall by cutting off money transfers from the U.S.
"Good luck with that," Obama said during his daily press briefing. "People expect the president of the United States and the elected officials in this country to treat these problems seriously, to put forward policies that have been examined, analyzed as effective, where unintended consequences are taken into account. They don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can't afford that."
In a campaign memo, Trump said he would allow remittances to Mexico after the country made "a onetime payment of $5-10 billion," but Obama says that would have such a negative impact on the economy, Mexicans would come to the U.S. for jobs. The Mexican central bank reports that in 2015, nearly $25 billion was sent to back to the country from Mexicans living abroad.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
The truth about sunscreenThe Explainer The science behind influencer claims that sun cream is toxic
-
Blue whales have gone silent and it's posing troubling questionsUnder the radar Warming oceans are the answer
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crimeSpeed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oilSpeed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymanderSpeed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
