The White House confirmed a call between President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the key issues they discussed on May 22.
“President Trump and President Sheinbaum discussed economic and security issues,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.
Earlier in the day, Sheinbaum said during her daily press conference that she had held another phone call with Trump to discuss trade issues.
“And we continue to talk about trade issues, nothing in particular, but we continue to negotiate, and with a good relationship and good communication,” the Mexican president said.
Sheinbaum said she has held seven calls with trump so far.
“In the beginning, we continued talking about trade and tariffs. Remember that we, in the case of the automotive industry, have a very preferential situation for Mexico, although we would still like more, but we have a preferential situation,” she said.
She added that they discussed other issues, without specifying which ones, and noted that both governments are continuing to work on the steel and aluminum issue, but clarified that “I would not like to say much more until we can reach an agreement.”
The call between the two presidents took place after Sheinbaum’s meeting with the new U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, for the presentation of credentials at the National Palace on Monday.
Later that day, Johnson promised to work “with her and her team on priorities such as security, the border, and migration.”
Sheinbaum said on May 20 at her morning press conference that they discussed trade, immigration, and security issues and maintaining cooperation between the United States and Mexico.
“We invite them to come to Mexico on this occasion,” Sheinbaum added.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on May 21 during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee that he plans to travel to Mexico soon to address security cooperation issues.
“We’ve been primarily focused with Mexico on two things ... One is on trade, which is not my department ... And then the other is on security cooperation,” Rubio said.
Also, on May 22, the Mexican president announced that, as part of the negotiations between the two countries, Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard will travel to Washington for a meeting.
