COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – For weeks, Donald Trump flirted with a self-described “softening” of the hard-line immigration policies that propelled him to the Republican nomination, raising the hopes of party officials, some Hispanic leaders and skeptical voters unnerved by his presidential candidacy.
On Wednesday, he appeared on the brink of embracing that shift as he traveled to Mexico for a dramatic visit with President Enrique Pena Nieto. Against the backdrop of grand diplomatic pageantry, Trump lavished praise on America’s southern neighbor and pointedly avoided insisting publicly that Mexico pay for the wall he’s pledged to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.
He was measured and soft-spoken, almost deferential as he read carefully off prepared notes.
Within hours, Trump wiped it all away.
In a lengthy and fiery address on immigration in Phoenix, the Republican nominee said in no uncertain terms that Mexico would indeed pay for his border wall. He lambasted millions of immigrants as violent criminals and a drain on the U.S. government. And he vowed that no person living in the United States illegally could chart a path to legal status without first leaving the country.