Mexico to Trump: We will not negotiate NAFTA through social media

Mexico on Sunday pushed back against a string of critical tweets from President Trump taking aim at the country, saying it refused to discuss aspects of the bilateral relationship “through social media or any other news platform.”

Trump on Sunday morning took to Twitter to accuse Mexico of being “one of the highest crime nations in the world” and “very difficult” when it came to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a trade deal Trump has said he wants to renegotiate.

He also reiterated his support for a wall along the southern border of the U.S., for which he has insisted Mexico will pay.

{mosads}“Mexico will not negotiate NAFTA, nor any other aspect of the bilateral relationship, through social media or any other news platform,” Mexico’s foreign ministry responded in a statement Sunday afternoon.

Mexico also reiterated that it wouldn’t pay for Trump’s much-touted border wall, calling its position on the matter “a principle of national sovereignty and dignity.”

As for the violence in the country, Mexico’s foreign ministry said it would “only end if its root causes are addressed: high demand for drugs in the United States and supply from Mexico (and other countries).”

Trump received criticism on social media for the timing of his Sunday tweets, which came as southeastern Texas was being hammered by Tropical Storm Harvey. Harvey, which first made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, was downgraded after hitting the coast.

In its statement, Mexico’s foreign ministry expressed solidarity with the U.S. during the crisis, noting that it had offered help to Washington “in order to deal with the impact of this natural disaster — as good neighbors should always do in trying times.”