President Trump insisted Thursday on Twitter that he's been trying for days to get in touch with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto after a major earthquake struck his country last week — but Peña Nieto wasn't picking up. After three days of dialing to no avail, Trump said, he was finally able to talk to Peña Nieto on Thursday to "give condolences" for the devastating 8.1-magnitude earthquake that happened seven days ago.
Trump blamed Peña Nieto's "cell phone reception" for his delayed call:
Whether cell phone reception was really the issue, relations between the U.S. and Mexico have already suffered from the lack of communication. On Monday, Mexico withdrew its offer of aid to the victims of Hurricane Harvey because Trump never responded to it, nor had he sent his condolences to Mexico for the earthquake.
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.
-
A crowded field of Democrats is filling up the California governor’s raceIn the Spotlight Over a dozen Democrats have declared their candidacy
-
Nitazene is elusively raising opioid deathsThe explainer The drug is usually consumed accidentally
-
Can medical debt hurt your credit?The explainer The short answer is yes, though it depends on the credit scoring mode
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
