News

Trump Threatens To Send US Troops Into Mexico To Stop 'Bad Hombres'

by Hope Schreiber
REUTERS

Update 11:35 pm EST: The White House has since denied Trump made these remarks.

In a phone call with Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto, President Donald Trump threatened to send in US troops to stop "bad hombres down there," causing all Americans to slam our heads on the nearest flat surface.

Trump said he would send the troops unless the Mexican military can control the "bad hombres," based on a transcript of the conversation that was obtained by the Associated Press.

Which "bad hombre" Trump was referring to is unclear. Could it be the drug cartels, immigrants or both?

The excerpt of the transcript also does not contain President Peña Nieto's response to Trump's threat.

Perhaps this is encouraging to Trump supporters -- to see the man they voted for being as blunt as he was on the campaign trail to world leaders.

However, the phone call was originally intended to be an olive branch.

After Trump promised to make Mexico pay for his border wall with Mexico saying it would never pay, the two leaders who are meant to be allies may have gotten off on the wrong foot.

(Also, let's not forget the time Trump called Mexicans rapists and criminals.)

Before the call, Peña Nieto canceled a planned visit to the United States because of the border wall conflict.

REUTERS

According to the excerpt, Trump said,

You have a bunch of bad hombres down there. You aren't doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn't, so I just might send them down to take care of it.

The source of the transcript is remaining anonymous because the administration didn't want to make the details of the call public.

While some Mexican reporters published similar accounts of the story, even going as far as saying Trump humiliated Peña Nieto, Mexico's foreign relations department denied the account, saying the tone of the conversation was "constructive."

They continued,

[I]t was agreed by the presidents to continue working and that the teams will continue to meet frequently to construct an agreement that is positive for Mexico and for the United States.

There is around $1.6 billion a day in cross-border trade conducted by the US and Mexico.

Trump is allowing his senior adviser, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner -- a real estate executive with no foreign policy experience -- to manage the dispute between the two countries now.

But Donald Trump was a reality TV star before he became president, so who knows what Kushner will be able to do?

Shoot, I've got that lack of experience on my résumé. If I were a rich person instead of a white trash hillbilly from the holler, maybe Trump would give me a job?

Citations: President Trump Threatens to Send U.S. Troops to Mexico to Take Care of 'Bad Hombres' (Time)