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<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) &#8212; Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Thursday he will not attend a planned Jan. 31 meeting with President Donald J. Trump, hours after Trump tweeted that the meeting should be canceled if Mexico won&#8217;t pay for a border wall.<article id="story_content" class="ng-binding"></p><p>Pena Nieto&#8217;s message on Twitter ended days of uncertainty about how he would respond to Trump&#8217;s aggressive stance toward the country, and illustrated the challenges world leaders are likely to face in dealing with Trump&#8217;s voluble, Twitter-based diplomacy.</p><p>&#8220;This morning we have informed the White House I will not attend the working meeting planned for next Tuesday,&#8221; Pena Nieto tweeted.</p><p>&#8220;Mexico reaffirms its willingness to work with the United States to reach agreements that benefit both nations,&#8221; he added.</p><p>In Washington, White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded to the Mexican president&#8217;s announcement, saying: &#8220;We&#8217;ll look for a date to schedule something in the future. We will keep the lines of communication open.&#8221;</p><p>Earlier Thursday, Trump had tweeted that &#8220;If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting&#8221; in Washington D.C.</p><p>Trump said Wednesday he would start building a U.S.-Mexico border wall and has vowed to make Mexico pay for it. Mexico opposes the wall and has repeatedly said it won&#8217;t pay.</p><p>Officials had said Mexico was &#8220;considering&#8221; canceling after the border wall announcement, but Trump appeared to beat Mexico to the punch in that game of brinkmanship.</p><p>Former foreign relations secretary Jorge Castaneda told local media that after Trump&#8217;s tweet, &#8220;Pena Nieto has no other choice but to say &#8216;I&#8217;m not going.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Trump&#8217;s unpredictable style appeared to catch Mexico&#8217;s normally quiet and cautious diplomacy off guard.</p><p>&#8220;I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter,&#8221; Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade told Radio Formula.</p><p>Mexico&#8217;s best-known opposition politician, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted that &#8220;in the face of Trump&#8217;s latest outburst, don&#8217;t go to the meeting, and submit an urgent complaint to the U.N. for human rights violations.&#8221;</article></p><p>Check back to <a href="https://www.timesleader.com" target="_blank">timesleader.com</a> for more details as they become available.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto speaks during a press conference at Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. Pena Nieto said Thursday he will not attend a planned Jan. 31 meeting with President Trump. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_AP_17023699811505-4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto speaks during a press conference at Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. Pena Nieto said Thursday he will not attend a planned Jan. 31 meeting with President Trump. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Stevenson</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Mexican president cancels meeting with Trump amid tensions