Trump's remarks spark rebuke from Mexico's president-elect

Mexico’s president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum blasted Donald Trump for his “rude” language after he gave a speech recounting his past negotiations with incoming economy minister Marcelo Ebrard, marking a potentially tense relationship with the Republican presidential candidate.

Sheinbaum’s response came after a Trump speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in which he spoke of how he threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico in 2019 unless the country cracked down on migration and boosted border security. He said that he had told President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s representative, then foreign minister Ebrard, that he would place tariffs on cars if Mexico did not cooperate.

“When I was building the wall, I said, you have to give us 28,000 soldiers, and they laughed at me,” said Trump, in a video posted on social media platform X. “He came back and said, Mr. President, we would love to give you soldiers to protect your wall free of charge, of course.”

Sheinbaum, who won the election in June and will take office in October, defended Ebrard on X. Her jab at the U.S. candidate may have also been in response to commentators who interpreted Trump’s comments about “a stupid person” with a “low IQ” later in the speech as pejoratives directed at Ebrard. Further remarks from Trump made it sound like he was actually speaking about US President Joe Biden.

“I regret former President Trump’s rude language and certainly disagree with his opinion of @m_ebrard,” she wrote in a post on her X account. “To me, he is one of the best public servants in Mexico, and he will be a great Secretary of Economy of our country, which no one should forget is free and sovereign.”

Ebrard himself replied to the video, writing on X that such comments during the U.S. election campaign appeared directed at winning more votes. Earlier on Saturday, he appeared alongside Sheinbaum at an event celebrating Mexico’s strength as the top U.S. trade partner.

Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O said at the event that part of the government’s plan was to reduce dependence on imports from China and to produce more goods locally, which would help create more jobs.