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Mexico says there is 'no way' it will pay for Trump wall

Wednesday, 11 January 2017 12:11 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 11 January 2017 12:56 AM ]

Mexico's new Foreign Minister, Luis Videgaray is pictured during a ceremony at Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City on January 04, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Luis Videgaray, the newly-appointed Mexican foreign minister says there is “no way” his country will pay for a wall that US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to construct along the border between the two countries.

"There's no way that could happen," Videgaray said during a televised speech on Tuesday. “It’s not a matter of how much does it cost, or where’s the money coming from, it’s a matter of dignity and national sovereignty.”

The comments were made days after Trump joined other Republicans, saying US taxpayers may foot the initial bill for the proposed wall along the southern border, insisting that Mexico would repay the US the money in the end.

In a Friday tweet, Trump stated that “the dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!”

Videgaray, a former finance minister, had been described by the president-elect as a “wonderful man” after helping to arrange a meeting last August between Trump and Enrique Pena Nieto, the incumbent Mexican president.

In September last year, Nieto also flatly rejected Trump’s proposal on the construction of US-Mexico border wall and its payment by his country.

This AFP photo taken on August 31, 2016 shows Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (L) and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump shaking hands after a meeting in Mexico City.

Trump, who is to assume office on January 20, has repeatedly pledged to build a wall along the southern border to prevent more immigrants from entering the US illegally, and has promised to have Mexico cover the cost of the construction of his proposed wall.

While the president-elect has estimated that erecting the wall would cost $8 billion, recent congressional legislation put the cost at $10 billion, but construction experts insist the actual cost could be more than double that amount.

Trump has also called illegal Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals, and has vowed to deport some 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows in the United States.

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