CRISIS/FOREIGN POLICY/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “U.S. President Donald Trump said that he reached Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto by telephone Thursday [9-14-17] to express his condolences for the earthquake that struck his country a week ago, citing poor cellphone reception for the delay.
The White House had previously cited technical issues when a planned phone call to Mr. Peña Nieto didn’t go ahead on Tuesday, and a spokesman for the National Security Council also noted that both men had been very busy in recent days.
‘Spoke to President of Mexico to give condolences on terrible earthquake. Unable to reach for 3 days b/c of his cell phone reception at site,’ Mr. Trump tweeted Thursday afternoon, as he returned to Washington from visiting hurricane damage in Florida.
The two men have had a rocky relationship, and some Mexicans have perceived the delayed phone call as a slight. A journalist for a Mexican news outlet shared a list earlier of almost 50 world leaders said to have already contacted Mexico in sympathy.”
-Louise Radnofsky, “Trump Offers Condolences to Mexican President, Blames Phone Trouble for Delay,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 14, 2017 04:13pm