"If your recent statements come from frustration with internal political affairs, with your laws, or with your Congress, talk about them, not about Mexicans," said Peña Nieto, addressing Trump in a video on Thursday afternoon.
"We won't allow negative rhetoric to define our actions," he added.
Peña Nieto spoke after Trump signed an order to deploy National Guard troops to halt what he calls“a drastic surge of illegal activity on the southern border.” In the past week, Trump has accused Mexico of doing little to stop illegal migration and expressed alarm about a caravan of hundreds of Central Americans who were crossing this country to highlight the plight of migrants — threatening to retaliate against Mexico if it didn’t stop the march.
In his video address, Peña Nieto said, "The bilateral relationship brings enormous opportunities both countries have to take advantage of. It's an intense and dynamic relationship that naturally also brings challenges."
"But those challenges will never justify threatening attitudes or disrespect between our countries," Peña Nieto added.
Before Mexico, a Honduran presidential spokesman also rejected Trump's threat to cut U.S. foreign aid unless a so-called caravan of more than 1,000 Central American migrants headed to the U.S. border with Mexico is stopped.
The U.S. president has stepped up his immigration rhetoric in recent days and his administration has moved to further crack down on people who are in the United States illegally.
