So who blinked first at the NAFTA table? Better question is who do you believe when they say the others blinked first – PB/TK
A Calmer Mexico Sees Trump Anew: as a ‘Bluffer’ at the Poker Table – By KIRK SEMPLE and ELISABETH MALKIN April 27 2017
There was a time when Donald J. Trump — first as a candidate and then as president — could rile Mexico without really trying.
His threats to build a border wall and make Mexicans pay for it would ignite firestorms of patriotic fury and resentment. His promises to deport millions of undocumented immigrants would send politicians to draft contingency plans. His vows to re-engineer the North American Free Trade Agreement and bring Mexico to heel would shake the foundations of the state.
But on Wednesday, the suggestion from the White House that Mr. Trump was finalizing an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the United States from Nafta revealed a different, more experienced Mexico, one that was learning to live with what it considers Mr. Trump’s bluster and stagecraft — and not inclined to publicly react too quickly.
“It seems like he’s sitting at a poker table bluffing rather than making serious decisions,” said Senator Armando Ríos Piter, a Mexican legislator. “In front of a bluffer, you always have to maintain a firm and dignified position.”
Mexican officials did not comment publicly until after Mr. Trump issued a statement, late on Wednesday night, that he was not seeking to withdraw from Nafta, but instead “to bring Nafta up to date through renegotiation.”
Mr. Trump said on Thursday that he had agreed to pleas by President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada that he not pull out of the treaty immediately. He had also come under pressure from congressional Republicans and business leaders alarmed by the possibility that Mr. Trump would move hastily toward a withdrawal.
Mr. Peña Nieto also issued a brief statement of his own, saying that the presidents spoke about “the shared objective to modernize” the trade agreement.
Continue to msn.com article: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-calmer-mexico-sees-trump-anew-as-a-%E2%80%98bluffer%E2%80%99-at-the-poker-table/ar-BBAs0Mz?li=BBnbcA1
