President Trump on Saturday hailed a deal reached between his administration and Mexico to stem the flow of migrants heading toward the U.S. in return for indefinitely suspending tariffs on the United States’s southern neighbor.
In a series of tweets, Trump focused on those who had praised the deal reached Friday while voicing optimism about Mexico’s efforts to curtail illegal immigration to the U.S., saying the country “will try very hard, and if they do that, this will be a very successful agreement for both the United States and Mexico!”
The president also asserted that, despite some positive reviews, “there has nevertheless been much false reporting (surprise!) by the Fake and Corrupt News Media,” though he did not specify what reporting he considered to be false.
Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico, which he first made last week, received strong pushback from members of both parties who warned that it would hurt U.S. economic growth and undermine a push to ratify a trade deal with Mexico and Canada.{mosads}
He had threatened to impose a 5 percent tariff on all Mexican goods starting Monday, with the duties rising to 25 percent by October. However, Trump declared Friday evening that tariffs would be “indefinitely suspended” after Mexico agreed to take steps to prevent the flow of migrants toward the U.S. border.
Allies of Trump hailed the move as a successful negotiation to tackle illegal immigration, while the deal also marked a win for Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who wrote on Twitter that the deal was reached “thanks to the support of all Mexicans.” Representatives from Mexico had been in Washington all week seeking to persuade the administration not to impose the tariffs.
The State Department said that Mexico has agreed to deploy its national guard in the country to help take migrants into custody and fight gangs, increase its intelligence sharing with the U.S. and allow the administration to deport to Mexico asylum-seeking migrants while they await adjudication of their claims.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement Friday night that it is “good news for Kentuckians and for all Americans that U.S. families won’t be hit with the price increases that would have resulted from new tariffs on imports from Mexico.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), meanwhile, mocked Trump’s tweet that announced his administration had reached a deal to “greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States.”
“Now that that problem is solved, I’m sure we won’t be hearing any more about it in the future,” Schumer wrote sarcastically.