Trump said he had settled immigration and tariffs in a phone call with Mexican president, but Sheinbaum refuted

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday declared victory in the U.S. effort to stem illegal immigration from Mexico after a phone call with his Mexican counterpart. But Mexican President Kirsten Sheinbaum later reported that Mexico had done its part and had no intention of closing the border. Mexican President Sheinbaum also warned that if President-elect Trump followed through on his proposed 25% across-the-board tariffs, 400,000 U.S. jobs would be lost, and she threatened retaliation. Trump said Sheinbaum “agreed to stop the flow of migrants to the United States through Mexico.” But Sheinbaum said on social media that she told Trump that Mexico was already “addressing” the migrant caravan and called it a “very good conversation.” “We reiterated that Mexico’s position is not to close the border, but to build bridges between governments and between peoples,” Sheinbaum said. While the status of the proposed tariffs was unclear, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that it “will effectively close our southern border.” He called it a “very productive conversation.” The exchange between the two leaders seemed to convince Trump that there was value in threatening to disrupt trade with import taxes. His initial social media posts shook financial markets and drew a swift response from Trump, who was quick to describe them as a victory. Even if the proposed tariffs fail to materialize, Trump can tell supporters that the mere possibility of them is an effective policy tool, and he continues to rely on the threat of tariffs. Sheinbaum wrote on social media that the two leaders “discussed Mexico’s strategy on immigration and I told Trump that the caravan will not reach the northern border with the United States because Mexico is taking care of them.” “We also talked about cooperation on increased security within a sovereign framework and our ongoing work to prevent the consumption and trafficking of fentanyl,” she said.