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Washington / AFP
Donald Trump announced he will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with the country’s president just hours ahead of his much-anticipated Arizona speech on immigration.
The Republican presidential nominee’s surprise trip south of the border comes as debate about his immigration policies is reaching fever pitch.
Although his visit holds potential political peril, Trump could seize control of the campaign narrative at a crucial time, showing a willingness to engage diplomatically on a sensitive issue at the heart of his campaign.
“I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow,” Trump posted on Twitter.
Mexico’s presidential office confirmed the visit, posting its own tweet in Spanish to say the billionaire New York real estate tycoon “has accepted the invitation and will meet tomorrow privately with the President @EPN.”
Pena Nieto’s office said in a statement that he had sent invitations to Trump as well as his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Clinton’s campaign has not publicly said whether she would travel to Mexico.
Trump has routinely assailed Mexican immigrants who illegally cross the border into the United States, promising hardline immigration policies, including calls for deportations, a key plank of his campaign.
A sudden international trip by a US presidential candidate would be a logistical and security nightmare on such short notice.
But Trump could be sensing an opportunity in the visit as he mulls whether to soften his positions on immigration, particularly his call early in his campaign to deport some 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows.
Any Trump-Pena Nieto meeting could be an awkward affair. In rally after campaign rally, Trump has pledged to “build a wall” on the US southern border if he becomes president and force Mexico to pay for it.