After Silence, Trump Claims Bad Cell Phone Service Delayed Condolence Message to Mexico

Mattis is heading down to try and patch things up.

Antonio Nava/ZUMA

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

President Donald Trump said he spoke with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday to offer his condolences after the country’s devastating earthquake last week that killed at least 90 people across the country. Trump claimed the conversation was pushed back by three days because Nieto could not be reached due to poor cell phone coverage.

Many were quick to point out that Nieto was in Mexico City on Wednesday, hundreds of miles away from where the earthquake struck, where cell coverage was still functioning. 

Trump’s explanation for the delay follows the Mexican government’s announcement Monday that it was rescinding its offer to aid the United States after Hurricane Harvey in the wake of its own natural disaster. The original offer included a plan to send trailers packed with food, 300 beds, and personnel to help Texas’s relief efforts.

In a statement announcing the offer’s withdrawal, Mexico’s foreign ministry appeared to hint at officials’ disappointment that it had taken the U.S. embassy nine days to even respond to the aid offer. Trump’s Twitter account, which he frequently takes uses to offer various messages of solidarity, was also conspicuously silent on Mexico. 

On Friday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will travel to Mexico to ease tensions amid increasingly strained relations between the two countries.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate