--- description: Donald Trump and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto appeared together in a last-minute press conference title: Read Donald Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto's Full Press Conference Transcript image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3afc5329fc0bc8fa/6988a4708e06012ea3467503/trump-nieto-mexico.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read Donald Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto's Full Press Conference Statement by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 31, 2016 9:50 PM CUT  US presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto prepare to deliver a joint press conference in Mexico City on August 31, 2016\. Donald Trump was expected in Mexico Wednesday to meet its president, in a move aimed at showing that despite the Republican White House hopeful's hardline opposition to illegal immigration he is no close-minded xenophobe. Trump stunned the political establishment when he announced late Tuesday that he was making the surprise trip south of the border to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto, a sharp Trump critic. / AFP / YURI CORTEZ US presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto prepare to deliver a joint press conference in Mexico City on August 31, 2016\. Donald Trump was expected in Mexico Wednesday to meet its president, in a move aimed at showing that despite the Republican White House hopeful's hardline opposition to illegal immigration he is no close-minded xenophobe. Trump stunned the political establishment when he announced late Tuesday that he was making the surprise trip south of the border to meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto, a sharp Trump critic. / AFP / YURI CORTEZYURI CORTEZ—AFP/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 31, 2016 9:50 PM CUT Donald Trump and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto [appeared together in a joint press conference](http://time.com/4474940/donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-statement-mexico/?xid=homepage "undefined") in Mexico City following a closed-door meeting Wednesday. Addressing reporters from side-by-side podiums, [Trump and Nieto](http://time.com/4475088/donald-trump-mexico-enrique-pena-nieto/ "undefined") talked about their “open and constructive” conversation. Trump, who has [repeatedly derided Mexico](http://time.com/4473972/donald-trump-mexico-meeting-insult/ "undefined") since announcing his presidential candidacy last year, said the U.S. had the right to build a wall between the two countries, but declined to say his oft-repeated line that Mexico would pay for the wall. “We did discus the wall. We didn’t discuss payment of the wall,” Trump said. Read the full press conference below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4475102/donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4475102/donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Donald Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto's Full Press Conference Statement","datePublished":"2016-08-31T21:50:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:19:47.073Z","description":"“We did discus the wall. We didn’t discuss payment of the wall\"","url":"https://time.com/4475102/donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-transcript/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic","transcript"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3afc5329fc0bc8fa/6988a4708e06012ea3467503/trump-nieto-mexico.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3afc5329fc0bc8fa/6988a4708e06012ea3467503/trump-nieto-mexico.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MEXICO-US-PENA NIETO-TRUMP","caption":"MEXICO-US-PENA NIETO-TRUMP","creditText":"YURI CORTEZ—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4475102/donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-transcript/","name":"Read Donald Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto's Full Press Conference Statement"}}]}] ```