Donald Trump’s return to the White House is marked by a more aggressive stance on trade, immigration, and security issues.
This is reflected in the executive orders he has signed to curb the entry of immigrants and combat Mexican cartels by designating them as terrorist organizations.
And precisely this April 2, after the markets close, Trump will fulfill another of his promises: imposing reciprocal tariffs on the entire world.
Although the Mexican government managed to pause the first round of tariffs, the possibility remains that the Trump administration will tax our country, which, according to experts, could strain relations with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
However, the president has called for “a cool head” in the face of Trump’s actions and has mentioned that there will be “cooperation without submission” with the United States.
Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump
It remains to be seen whether, after the imposition of tariffs, the relationship between the former head of government and the conservative will be comparable to that between former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Trump, who reportedly enjoyed a strong friendship, according to one of the former secretaries who worked during the Tabasco president’s administration.
What was AMLO and Trump’s relationship like?
In an interview with La Silla Rota, Olga Sánchez Cordero, former Secretary of the Interior, said that at the beginning of Trump’s first term, the increased flow of migrants entering the US through Mexico caused the Republican to pressure the López Obrador administration with tariff threats to halt the entry of undocumented immigrants into the United States.
In response, the former Mexican president agreed to collaborate with Trump to stem the flow of migrants. According to the Morena representative, this did not cause Mexico to change its immigration policy, but rather the country resorted to “another type of cooperation.”
Sánchez Cordero revealed that Trump and AMLO had a very good relationship, and recounted that during an event in Washington, the Republican expressed his admiration for the former president.
“President López Obrador and Trump were at the honor table. President Trump was very friendly, and he told the businesspeople present, ‘He’s the best president you’ve ever had.’ He even raised his hand. That was how positive their relationship was,” she recalled.
The former Supreme Court justice compared López Obrador and Trump in their communication styles and drew similarities between the two political figures.
“They both spoke to their electoral base, always. They always addressed their electoral base. Their communication with their electoral base and with the people, with their voters, was direct, without being media intermediaries (…) They basically communicated directly with their people,” she argued.
It’s worth remembering that when Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, López Obrador didn’t congratulate the Democrat until December, which was seen as a gesture of support for Trump.
Source: politico
