It was a beautiful day in the White House Rose Garden when the US and Mexican presidents strode side by side to their respective podiums.
For President Donald Trump, the meeting on July 8 appeared to be little more than a formality. It might generate a few minor headlines, sure, but nothing that would truly stand out amid a re-election fight and a surging coronavirus pandemic.
But for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, making his first foreign trip as Mexico’s President, an entire nation was watching.
How would López Obrador, or AMLO as he is popularly known, handle the US President who had made insulting Mexicans a staple of his rise to political power?
Would he use the moment to confront Trump’s past racist comments? Would he take the President to task on his derision of migrants? Would he remind Trump that Mexico hasn’t actually paid for his promised border wall?
As someone who once explicitly called Trump a racist, you might expect López Obrador to do just that.
“We have received from you, President Trump, understanding and respect,” said López Obrador, as he looked over at Trump. “Some people thought that our ideological differences would inevitably lead to confrontations. Fortunately, this has not been the case.”
López Obrador gave a glowing speech touting the US-Mexico relationship and thanked Trump for his “kindness.”
“His visit went very well because the guy came prepared,” said Rafael Fernández de Castro, Director at the Center for US-Mexican Studies at UC San Diego. “He thought of his audience when he delivered his speech.”
His audience was singular in nature — Donald Trump, the man running for re-election to the highest office in the country more important to Mexico than any other.
With less than four months until the US presidential election, López Obrador knew then full well that Trump might win. It might even now be the outcome he prefers.
But whether Trump gets four more years or Democrat Joe Biden assumes the Oval Office, the impact on America’s neighbor to the south will be pronounced.