by Adedotun Michael

Having had enough of President Donald Trump’s emphatic reiteration and boasts that it will eventually pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mexican government said in a statement Sunday that it will not fund the said project “under any circumstances,” Politico reports.

The statement credited to the Mexico’s foreign ministry reads, “As the Mexican government has always stated, our country will not pay, under any circumstances, for a wall or physical barrier built on US territory along the Mexican border. This statement is not part of a Mexican negotiating strategy, but rather a principle of national sovereignty and dignity.”

The border wall, a Trump’s dire agenda has become expedient for the White House, with the president threatening at a rally in Phoenix last week that he is ready to shut down the government if Congress does not pass the bill which will fund commencement of the wall construction. The President justified his move through the Congress with his unwilling desire to wait on the Mexico government to accede to his long-held demand that it pay for the wall and that Congress should instead fund the wall with the belief that the Mexican government will refund the US.

Trump had earlier amidst series of tweets about Hurricane Harvey written that “With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.”

With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017

In a subsequent post, the president also called NAFTA, a trade deal he has pledged to either renegotiate or back out of entirely, the “worst trade deal ever made” and said Canada and Mexico are “both being very difficult” in the renegotiation process.

We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada.Both being very difficult,may have to terminate?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017

Also while reacting to President Trump allegations of insincerity of the Mexican and Canadian government over NAFTA, the Foreign ministry rebuffed the claim and said, “Mexico’s position at the renegotiation table of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will continue to be serious and constructive, always putting our national interests first, and seeking a beneficial result whereby the three North American countries win. Mexico will not negotiate NAFTA, nor any other aspect of the bilateral relationship, through social media or any other news platform.”

In the same vein, the foreign ministry solidarised with the US over Hurricane Harvey which hit the Texas coast last Friday and has dropped record amounts of rain on the Houston area, and it offered a hand of help by saying, “The Mexican government takes this opportunity to express its full solidarity with the people and government of the United States as a result of the damages caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and expresses that it has offered to provide help and cooperation to the US government in order to deal with the impact of this natural disaster — as good neighbors should always do in trying times”.

Adegbite Adedotun