Mexican president reiterates Mexico won't pay for Trump's wall

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto speaks in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly.

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 12 January 2017

President-elect Donald Trump has assured Americans that despite taxpayers initially funding his border wall, Mexico will eventually reimburse the cost. "I don't feel like waiting a year or year and a half. We're going to start building. Mexico in some form — and there are many different forms — will reimburse us and they will reimburse us for the cost of the wall," Trump told the media at his first press conference in nearly six months on Wednesday.

But contrary to the president-elect's insistence, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto explained that would not be the case later in the day, Politico reports. "It is evident that we have some differences with the new government of the United States, like the topic of the wall, that Mexico of course will not pay," Peña Nieto told foreign diplomats in a speech.

It was not the first time Peña Nieto has taken a firm stance on the issue; after a September meeting with Trump, he insisted "I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.