MEXICO CITY (dpa-AFX) - After a break, President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his commitment to build a wall along the border with Mexico to prevent the flow of drugs to the United States.
In a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Ninisto Monday, Trump insisted that Mexico will have to pay for the wall, which is 'needed very badly'.
'It may be through reimbursement, but one way or the other, Mexico will pay for the wall,' he told reporters.
The Republican-led House of Representatives last month had approved a bill that includes $1.6 billion fund for building Trump's long- promised wall along the US-Mexico border.
But it is likely that Senate Democrats will block Trump's budget request when it moves to the upper chamber.
Congressional funding for the border wall is not well taken by Democrats and a section among Republicans.
Trump said tremendous amount of drugs are pouring into the United States at levels that nobody has ever seen before. This happened over the last three to four years in particular. 'The wall will stop much of the drugs from pouring into this country and poisoning our youth,' according to him.
The President claimed that his administration has stopped drug traffic coming through the southern border by 78 percent. 'It's going to be 81 percent this quarter, which is a record,' he added.
Responding to a reporter's question, Trump made it clear that the US Government will either terminate or renegotiate the NAFTA agreement with Mexico.
He said that it's been a one-sided deal in favor of Mexico and Canada.
And the United States workers, who have lost their jobs because of NAFTA, are not going to be suffering any longer, Trump said.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX