Just eight days after his departure, President Donald Trump on Tuesday thanked Andrés Manuel López Obrador for his “friendship” and support in controlling the border between the two countries.
In Alamo, Texas, next to a section of the wall that he urges to prevent “crime and drugs,” Republican President López Obrador spared no praise.
I want to thank the great president of Mexico. He’s a great gentleman, a friend of mine. President (López) Obrador is a man who really knows what’s going on. He loves his country and he also loves the United States, ”he emphasized.
“I want to thank you for your friendship and your professional working relationship,” he added of the Mexican president.
Trump emphasized Mexico’s deployment of 27,000 troops to patrol its borders over the past two years, which he said could curb illegal immigration, mostly from Central America.
In addition, it celebrated the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) negotiated with the López Obrador government, an agreement it described as ‘groundbreaking’ requiring foreigners arriving at the US border to seek asylum to wait for the solution of their business. in Mexican territory.
“This measure alone ended a humanitarian crisis and saved countless lives,” Trump said.
“WE DID IT RIGHT”
Trump affirmed that “we have done well” regarding the construction of the border wall with Mexico, so that the Joe Biden administration “will not be able to tear it down easily.”
Despite the fact that the United States tops the list of the countries with the most infected and deceased countries by covid-19, Trump affirmed before the wall that “ this invisible enemy has hit Mexico very hard and that we have territories along the border. have those in great shape for that (fence). We’re in top shape, but on the other side of the wall, in Mexico, they’re suffering from the virus. It is incredible what we have achieved, ”he assured.
“We work here, next to a few heroes, in this room, in the open air, looking at this wall. We have reformed this and we have the safest border in United States history on a level like never before, ” Trump said in another part of his speech, the first live after his followers stormed the Capitol in Washington last Wednesday. DC.
“We are facing cartels, smugglers, coyotes, and we have restored the right and the law to follow. For years, politicians promised to secure the border, once elected they did nothing at all, quite the contrary. They even promised a wall about 10 years ago, but they couldn’t build it, ”he said.
Regarding the possibility of impeachment he faces in the House of Representatives today, Trump assured that “the prosecution’s deception is a continuation of the greatest and cruelest witch hunt in our country’s history, causing tremendous anger and division. And pain, much greater than most people will understand, which is very dangerous for the United States, especially at this time, ”he added.
The White House said the president had traveled to Alamo to “mark the completion of more than 400 miles of border wall,” which he considered “a promise fulfilled.”
However, the “big, beautiful” wall that Trump promised during the 2016 election campaign was not completed. Of the total number completed, only about 20 km have been built in areas where there was no physical barrier before. The rest corresponds to improvements or reinforcements of existing barriers.
And Mexico never paid for the wall, as Trump promised.