here. we have just concluded very productive meetings last night and this morning with our counterparts. the secretary of government, the secretary of foreign relations, videgaray, the secretary of national defense general fuegos, secretary of the navy admiral soberon and secretary of finance and public credit, madid. during the course of our meetings, we discussed the breadth of challenges and opportunities in the u.s./mexico relationship. although our two nations share a long history, our visit was forward looking focusing on common interests that would advance security and economic well-being. in our meetings, we jointly acknowledge that a relationship filled with vibrant colors, two strong sovereign countries from time to time will have differences. we listened closely and carefully to each other as we
u.s./mexico relationship. it could be tough. it could be tough. it already has been tough. the meeting he was scheduled to have here with the president of mexico was canceled because of the rhetoric that s gone back and forth. president trump saying that mexico was going to pay for the wall and president pena nieto, who had had low ratings when he stood up to president trump. his ratings are kind of creeping up. so i think president trump is finding out that the president of mexico also has some cards to play, right? this isn t a zero-sum game in terms of this relationship. obviously, president trump wants this wall. he wants some sort of cooperation from mexico. they have said no. he s reviewing how much aid the u.s. sends to mexico and whether that s part of the negotiation. so when tillerson goes and we ve seen this with the secretary of state when he goes abroad, he s
have the influence that secretaries of state and the command usually have. and this is a very tense relationship. i don t think he s going to describe it as phenomenal which is the word sean spicer, the white house press secretary, used yesterday. phenomenal. the u.s./mexican relationship. i was surprises to hear that as well given some of the strains that have developed. the mexican president declining an invitation to come to washington. everyone stand by. we re watching two big events. about to have live coverage from the cpac conference here in washington. where president trump s white house chief of staff reince priebus n his chief strategist steve bannon will be speaking, answering questions there. we ll have live coverage of that. haven t heard much from steve bannon over these past few weeks. also standing by to hear from the secretary of state rex tillerson and mexican foreign minister. they re about to speak. you see the lecterns there in mexico city. they re trying to sm
they ve never seen so much happen in 30 days of a presidency. with mexico, we have $70 billion in deficits, trade deficits. and it s unsustainable. we ll not let it happen. can t let it happen. we ll have a good relationship with mexico, i hope. and if we don t, we don t. you see what s happening at the border. for the first time we re getting gang members out, drug lords out. we re getting really bad dudes out of this country. and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before. and they are the bad ones. and it s a military operation. actually, it was the best golfer of all the rich people, to be exact. and then that last comment, one of the guests there suggested reminded him he had a hole in one when they were playing golf. let s talk a little bit about what the president had to say. he was being pretty direct, blunt in talking about the
actions, we ll consolidate the relationship between mexico and the united states as a joint work and reliable friendship and relationship. thank you very much and welcome you again to mexico. thank you. right now we will invite secretary tillerson. thank you very much. secretary videgaray and my good friend luis. i m delighted to be in mexico city, and i m particularly pleased that secretary kelly has traveled with me so that we could have very comprehensive discussions on issues of great importance between our two countries. as i shared with others, i am a native texan. i was born in texas and spent almost all of my life living in texas. so mexico for all of my life has been a very close neighbor. and i have a great affection for the mexican people. and so i m really pleased to be