Thread: Trump dines with Carlos Slim as relations warm with Mexican leaders

Trump dines with Carlos Slim as relations warm with Mexican leaders

Billionaire Carlos Slim look on as he listens to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during a forum in Mexico City on Dec. 1. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

By Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Joshua Partlow December 19 at 4:49 PM

President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers are quietly warming relations with rival billionaire Carlos Slim and other business titans of Mexico, a country he turned into a foil for his populist U.S. presidential campaign.

Trump met for a private dinner last Saturday night with Slim, a Mexican business and media magnate, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Fla.

Trump and Slim, who is one of the world’s richest men, feuded throughout the 2016 presidential race. The dinner was a peace-making gesture designed to open a friendly line of communication between the two longtime adversaries, according to multiple people briefed on the discussions.
Trump, in a statement to The Washington Post, described his visit with Slim as “a lovely dinner with a wonderful man.”

Prior to the election, Slim had strongly criticized Trump’s plans to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement and build a wall to seal off the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump in turn accused Slim of helping promote his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.But after Trump’s surprising victory, Slim’s tone changed towards the president-elect. In recent comments, Slim has spoken optimistically about Trump’s presidency.

“If Trump is able to grow the United States economy and jobs, that would be fantastic for Mexico,” Slim told a business forum. “If the United States grows 4 percent, increases infrastructure and lowers taxes, that is good.”

Partlow reported from Tijuana, Mexico.

Philip Rucker is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post, where he has reported since 2005.
Follow @PhilipRucker

Robert Costa is a national political reporter at The Washington Post.
Follow @costareports

Joshua Partlow is The Post’s bureau chief in Mexico. He has served previously as the bureau chief in Kabul and as a correspondent in Brazil and Iraq.
Follow @partlowj

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.113dab81dbdc

Trump and his Chess Board. Always at work. Carlos Slim is a big voice in Mexico and if Trump can win him over to see our side of things, on trade, immigration and the wall, then that is a big boost to our side. Slim also owns a major portion of the New York Times, so I have a feeling things will soon be changing there as well, and they certainly need to.

As the wise people say, "we'll see!"

Originally Posted by Judy

Trump and his Chess Board. Always at work. Carlos Slim is a big voice in Mexico and if Trump can win him over to see our side of things, on trade, immigration and the wall, then that is a big boost to our side. Slim also owns a major portion of the New York Times, so I have a feeling things will soon be changing there as well, and they certainly need to.

As the wise people say, "we'll see!"

It would be a little naive of us to think the possibility of things going in the opposite direction are not a possibility. Trump has shown in the past that he can bend and readjust his thinking when he feels it would be politically beneficial to him. We've been burned frequently over the years by folks who say one thing but end up doing another on issues considered politically controversial. So forgive me for not being overly excited when someone we're placing a lot of faith in decides to have private dinners with people that have always been an enemy to our cause. Trump could be the one doing the influencing or he could be the one being influenced. Time will tell.

We are fast becoming a country without laws. We have them but no one wants to enforce them anymore. People refusing service to people because of who they voted for. Firing people because of who they voted for. Law enforcement standing by watching American being beat and harassed attending a public event. People luting, blocking public highways and police just watching. Politicians breaking the laws and getting rich from it and it is o.k. because they didn't mean to. What has Obama administration done?

Trump has to do a lot of butt kissing to make up for all of the name calling and mudslinging he did.

'Mudslinging and name calling' - well, he was very bombastic wasn't he?

But was it true?

Yes, even I cringed at some of the things he said, or maybe the way he said it, but did most of it need saying?

Ron Paul had a lot of really good things to say - real solutions for this country. The same people aligned against PE Trump were aligned against him. He just spoke the truth quietly and for that reason they were able to skewer him and many Americans actually regurgitated the media's mantra 'he's a kook'.

PE Trump was 'out there', in a way he could not be ignored.

Have we lived so long under the tyranny of the few, we become almost frightened when someone speaks the truth and speaks it forcefully?

Originally Posted by nntrixie

'Mudslinging and name calling' - well, he was very bombastic wasn't he?

But was it true?

Yes, even I cringed at some of the things he said, or maybe the way he said it, but did most of it need saying?

Ron Paul had a lot of really good things to say - real solutions for this country. The same people aligned against PE Trump were aligned against him. He just spoke the truth quietly and for that reason they were able to skewer him and many Americans actually regurgitated the media's mantra 'he's a kook'.

PE Trump was 'out there', in a way he could not be ignored.

Have we lived so long under the tyranny of the few, we become almost frightened when someone speaks the truth and speaks it forcefully?

Ron Paul is an open border amnesty supporter.