Trump suggests Mexico agreed to host waiting asylum seekers. Mexico denies it.

President Trump said on Twitter Saturday evening that migrants seeking asylum at the southern border will wait in Mexico while their claims are processed:

His comments fit with a Saturday Washington Post report that the Trump administration had reached a deal with Mexico's incoming government to keep migrants in Mexico while their cases are considered. The Post story cited senior figures in President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador's transition team, and The Wall Street Journal made a similar report.

But the incoming Mexican government denied the story, with incoming Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard saying no specific agreement has been proposed or settled. Likewise, incoming Interior Minister Olga Sanchez Cordero told Reuters no deal has been made, a statement contrary to what she told the Post.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

Trump seemed to proceed as if nothing had changed, posting another tweet on the topic Sunday morning:

U.S. officials, meanwhile, told the Post negotiations are indeed underway, but López Obrador's team is not yet ready for a public commitment.