With the brewing of a trade war, President Trump has given Mexican president signs of respect: “You’re tough,” he told her last month on the phone.
With their latest conversation, the two leaders had exchanged compliments and carved out real-time graces from some tariffs, said those familiar with the phone.
When Claudia Sheinbaum became president on October 1st, the first woman to rule Mexico, there were doubts about how she would handle her relationship with the United States, especially if Trump wins the election.
A proud leftist and trained scientist, Sinbaum had little foreign policy experience in his previous post as mayor of Mexico City. Unlike her predecessor, Andre Manuel Lopez Obrador, who had become friends with Trump and shared his overblown style, was considered a more modest technocrat than the women on political shows.
But she has surprised much of her country by dodging the barrage of threats from Trump, as well as, to some extent, by fake the budding relationship with her American counterparts.
“No one expected her to be this good or this fortune,” said Mexican political analyst Carlos Bravo Regidor. “Whatever it is, it’s working.”
On the campaign trail, Trump made Mexico a clear target for his attack. Once elected, he vowed to impose tariffs on his American southern neighbors until fentanyl halts the flow to the United States.
However, recently he has lavished and praised Ms. Simbaum, even though he has excited more experienced world leaders. He calls her a “great woman” who has a “very good” relationship.
Her gentle attitude and the outcome she was delivered with immigration and fentanyl appear to have earned his respect, officials from both countries say they have oversight of domestic policy and will impress key members of his administration, including Deputy Director Stephen Miller, a Homeland Security Adviser.
Her relationship with the US president is supported in contrast to her much more controversial relationship with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who left the Post on Friday.
At the start of last week’s recent conversation, Shainbaum ticked about five minutes of everything he did to secure the border and combat fentanyl trafficking, according to two people familiar with the consultation. Prior to the call, she had sent out Trump data to back up points. She suggested that tariffs only make it difficult to explain this level of cooperation to her citizens.
After quitting his conversation, Trump remained silent due to the long beat. And after praising Sinbaum, people said they suddenly fired an attack on Canada. He asked what Mr Sinbaum thought of Mr Trudeau. She said she doesn’t talk much with Canadian leaders. Trump said she was lucky.
At the end of the call, Trump said he had offered to exclude many Mexican goods from tariffs, and then began to utter a true social post announcing the deal, loudly speaking. Sinbaum and her team were delighted.
Trump said he was delaying tariffs until “not respectful” by the Mexican president on April 2, “Thank you to President Shainbaum for your hard work and cooperation!” Sinbaum said the call was “excellent and respectful” in a post on X.
She also made a bold move against drug cartels known to sever revenge on those who threaten them. Perhaps most dramatic is the relocation of 29 drug lords to the United States in late February to face criminal charges. The move was a huge blow to organized criminal groups, sending a message that Sinbaum was serious about fighting them.
Several people familiar with the issue said that shortly after the handover, Shanebaum’s phone was hacked. A spokesman for the Mexican president declined to comment.
While working hard with Trump, Sinbaum slams nationalist sentiments at home, reminding Mexicans that he “is not a colony of anyone,” and saying, “Collect, yes, submit, never.”
In recent months, her approval rate in Mexico has exceeded 75%.
Still, despite Sinbaum’s efforts, Mexico is not protected from Trump’s unpredictability. Like other parts of the world, the country is waiting for another potential tariff on April 2nd. It also imposes steel and aluminum tariffs imposed this week, as well as obligations for goods not included in the US Mexican-Canada agreement. Trade turmoil is already rattling the Mexican economy.
But as Trump continues to hit Canada with the new threat of sudden collections and annexation, Mexicans mostly enjoy a break from the drama.
“It’s like a real life episode of “Apprentice,” Bravo Regidor said, referring to the 2000s reality series starring Trump. “The whole show’s purpose is to survive until the next episode, and she has been able to do that so far.”
The two leaders have come a long way in just a few months.
Trump accused Mexico of being run by a cartel and threatening a military strike on Mexican soil. And while Trump has often publicly said he has a great relationship with Sinbaum’s predecessor and leader Lopez Obrador, he also has concerns about the former Mexican leader’s management of cartel violence.
Trump and some key members of his team were initially skeptical of Shanebaum. The two, well-versed in his ideas, are due to media coverage that portrayed her as an ideologically dedicated leftist.
Early on, her rhetoric towards Trump was sometimes hostile.
At a press conference in November, she read aloud a sharply verbal letter written by Trump in response to his tariff threat. “There’s a physical response to every tariff until it’s at risk from the shared company,” she said.
According to five people familiar with their ideas, Misib was seen as an old lethal and unnecessary provocation by some members of Trump’s transition team.
Then, in early January, after Trump said he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the US Gulf, Sinbaum joked that the US would be renamed “Mexico America.” The comments were widely interpreted as a joyous pleasure for Trump.
But her style began to change as she began to hear that conflicting tactics were only making Trump angry.
She scored points by deciding to speak to Trump in English on their phone, the three well-versed in the speech said. Lopez Obrador spoke to Trump in Spanish through an interpreter and had been talking to him for a long time, which often left him bored the president, officials said.
In contrast, Shanebaum came to talk to a very prepared president, three US and Mexican officials said. She studied his speech, watched the videos and tried to understand Trump’s communication style.
Her tone with him was calm and she met an official as being serious and transparent. That even-numbered approach made a particularly impressive impression as it was very different from that of Trudeau, who had more controversial interactions with Trump.
Mexican observers pointed to the escalate spat between the US and Canada as a sign that Sinbaum’s light touch with Trump has protected the country from further disruption.
“She is dignified and discreet by not choosing to fight,” said Enrique Clause, a well-known Mexican historian. “Her natural traits have worked out for now in the face of a Trump-like personality.”
Maria Abi-Habib contributed the report.
