--- description: Enrique Peña Nieto told business people in Mexico City that Presidents did not wake up thinking about how to “screw” their country title: Mexico's President Says He Isn't Out to 'Screw' His Country image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta242abefcb9944e1/6988ab970b72e381ee6eb802/h_53029274.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto Says He Isn't Out to 'Screw' His Country by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 26, 2016 7:25 AM CUT  Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto addresses the General Debate of the 71st Session of the U.N. General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Sept. 20, 2016 Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto addresses the General Debate of the 71st Session of the U.N. General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Sept. 20, 2016Jason Szenes—EPA by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 26, 2016 7:25 AM CUT Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto [told business people and politicians at an event in Mexico City](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-penanieto-idUSKCN12P2V4 "undefined") that Presidents did not wake up thinking about how to “screw” their country. “In this job, my only intention is for Mexico to do well, and I’m sure that’s all the previous Presidents have set out to do, eh?” Peña Nieto told his audience, according to Reuters. “I don’t think Presidents get up, nor have they got up thinking, and forgive me for saying it, how to screw Mexico,” he added, using the Spanish vulgarity _joder_. Tuesday’s statement came partway through a speech in which Peña Nieto called for optimism on Mexico, even if people did not support his government, Reuters reports. With just over two years of his term remaining, Peña Nieto has seen [his popularity plummet](http://time.com/4475378/pena-nieto-donald-trump-mexico-meeting-anger/ "undefined") amid corruption scandals, security-force abuses and his snap decision to invite U.S. Republican presidential candidate [Donald Trump to Mexico](http://time.com/4475102/donald-trump-enrique-pena-nieto-transcript/ "undefined") in August. Trump has repeatedly disparaged Mexican immigrants, vowed to make Mexico pay for his border wall, and threatened to deport millions of illegal immigrants — the decision to grant him an audience was criticized by Peña Nieto’s supporters and opponents alike. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-penanieto-idUSKCN12P2V4 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4545724/mexico-president-screw-joder-enrique-pena-nieto/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4545724/mexico-president-screw-joder-enrique-pena-nieto/"},"headline":"Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto Says He Isn't Out to 'Screw' His Country","datePublished":"2016-10-26T07:25:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:25:42.381Z","description":"\"In this job, my only intention is for Mexico to do well,\" he said","url":"https://time.com/4545724/mexico-president-screw-joder-enrique-pena-nieto/","keywords":["Mexico"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta242abefcb9944e1/6988ab970b72e381ee6eb802/h_53029274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta242abefcb9944e1/6988ab970b72e381ee6eb802/h_53029274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"General Debate of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly","caption":"General Debate of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly","creditText":"Jason Szenes—EPA","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/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4545724/mexico-president-screw-joder-enrique-pena-nieto/","name":"Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto Says He Isn't Out to 'Screw' His Country"}}]}] ```