The Latest: Trump criticized by former Mexican president

January 27, 2017

Kate Nemarich,

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times EST):

7:10 a.m.

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox says President Donald Trump’s push for his country to bankroll a new southern border wall has “brought back a very strong Mexican spirit.”

Fox says on NBC’s “Today” that tensions between the two countries are “at the very lowest point since the war between Mexico and the United States.”

He was interviewed the day after a planned meeting in Washington between Trump and President Enrique Pena Nieto (PAYN’-yuh nee-EH’-toh) collapsed amid arguments over the wall. Trump insists it will be built at Mexico’s expense on the border between the two countries to curb illegal immigration.

Fox says, “I think Trump is playing around with everybody. He has now faced his first defeat and he cannot digest a defeat. His ego does not allow him to do that.”

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3:47 a.m.

Congressional Republicans left their annual policy retreat divided over paying for President Donald Trump’s border wall, one of several thorny issues looming to trip them up as the GOP adjusts to full control of Washington.

Lawmakers welcomed a speech from Trump endorsing their goals on repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama’s health care law and overhauling the loophole-ridden tax code. But the president’s comments on paying for the wall, and subsequent clarification and walk-backs from the White House, sowed widespread confusion Thursday.

After the White House press secretary announced a 20 percent border tax on imports from Mexico, House Republicans felt certain the administration was describing a central plank of their own tax plan – so-called border adjustment that taxes imports instead of exports. But White House press secretary Sean Spicer backed away from that later Thursday, saying it was only an option for funding the project.