BREAKING: Mexico's President smacks down Trump, cancels meeting via Twitter

Donald Trump’s executive order and accompanying speech calling for the construction of a border wall was conspicuously missing any reference to his promise to make Mexico pay for that wall. And in an early morning tweet the next day, Trump tried to apply a heavy hand, suggesting that Mexico pay up, or have their scheduled meeting canceled:

The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017

That meeting, scheduled for next week, has now, in fact, been canceled — by President Enrique Peña Nieto, who delivered the news in Trumpian fashion, via Twitter. Here are the tweets, with English translations:

As we have noted previously, Trump has no way to make Mexico pay for the wall, and he now risks damaging diplomatic relations with a nation which holds considerable leverage as a trading partner. President Peña Nieto’s response figures to sting Trump, and only time will tell how he responds in full.