Trump fires latest shot in Mexico standoff by saying southern neighbor has 'taken advantage' of U.S. with 'massive deficits' following cancellation of presidential meeting

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President Donald Trump has fired his latest shot in his standoff with Mexico over construction of a border wall, tweeting that the country has 'taken advantage' of the United States.

Trump was back on the attack after tweeting Thursday that it would be better to cancel an upcoming meeting with Mexico's president if the country was 'unwilling' to pay for the border wall he is going to build.

'Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough,' Trump Tweeted Friday morning.

'Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!'

His missive came following a day where his clash with Mexico boiled over into a diplomatic imbroglio, with Mexican President Pena Nieto spiking a planned meeting between the two leaders. 

President Donald Trump tweeted about 'massive trade deficits' with Mexico, a day after he told lawmakers on Thursday in Philadelphia that he and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto 'agreed' to cancel a White House visit that was scheduled for next Tuesday

Trump told Republicans meeting at a retreat in Philadelphia that the decision was mutual.  Top GOP leaders appear to be on board with the idea, agreeing themselves on a price tag of about $12 billion to $15 billion that Trump says will be borne by Mexico either through direct payments or through taxation, such as a 'border adjustment' idea he floated to slap a 20 per cent tax on imports.

 The U.S. trade deficit with Mexico is about $60 billion, according to federal government data.

Trump's broadside came shortly after former Mexican President Vincente Fox once again blasted the idea of Mexico paying for the wall, and said the fight had led to a serious diplomatic situation between the two neighboring countries.

“I think we are at the very lowest point since the war between Mexico and the United States,' Fox said, referring to the 1846-1848 war that resulted in the U.S. seizing about a third of Mexico's territory.

“It’s nonsense. He’s playing around with American people,' Fox added. 

Then he made another historical comparison likely to get the attention of U.S. businesses, who he said would be harmed by Trump's border tax that he said business and U.S. consumers would end up paying.

He said relations were at the lowest point since the war 'or before the nationalization of the oil by president Cardenas where he took away from the oil companies that were abusing over Mexico.'

'He took away the industry and nationalized it and I think it was a very courageous very strong thing to do but welcomed by all Mexicans, just as today president Pena standing front of this playing guy Trump has brought back very strong Mexican spirit and we’re ready for the trade war we’re ready of course for not paying that wall,' he said.

Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway told CBS News on Friday that Mexico would pay for the wall 'because they get an awful lot from this country.' 

Following the enactment of the NAFTA trade deal in 1994, U.S. imports from Mexico soared from $65 billion to $295 billion in 2016, MarketWatch reported. 

President Trump tweeted that Mexico has 'taken advantage' of the U.S., in the latest dig at the nation after its president insisted Mexico will not pay for a border wall Trump wants to build

Trump  said Thursday that he and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto 'agreed' to cancel a White House visit that was scheduled for next Tuesday.

'Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless,' Trump told Republican lawmakers today in Philadelphia. 'And I want to go a different route. We have no choice.'

Pena Nieto claimed in a tweet before Trump's remarks at the GOP retreat that it was his government that called it off. 

The decision came after Trump told the Mexican leader he may as well stay at home. 

Trump said this morning on Twitter, 'If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.' 

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'Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless,'Trump said. Pena Nieto claimed in a tweet before Trump's remarks at the GOP retreat that it was his government that called it off

The decision came after Trump told the Mexican leader he may as well stay at home 

Pena Nieto huffed right back at Trump on his own Twitter account.

'This morning we informed the White House that I will not attend the work meeting planned for next Tuesday with the POTUS,' he said in a Spanish to English translation provided by Reuters.    

In a follow up message Pena Nieto said, 'Mexico reiterates its willingness to work with the United States to reach accords that favor both nations.' 

Trump had launched an assault on the North American Free Trade Agreement in another message this morning.

He told lawmakers from his political party later in the day that it's a 'defective transaction' that would have been renegotiated already 'except that the politicians were too preoccupied to do so.'

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters making the short hop this morning with Trump to a Republican retreat in Philadelphia that the White House intends to 'keep the lines of communication open' with Pena Nieto's government.

'We will look for a date to schedule something in the future,' Spicer said. 

After Trump authorized immediate construction on the wall he's long said Mexico will pay for on Wednesday, a senior aide to Pena Nieto told AP that the head of state might cancel his visit to Washington.

Pena Nieto did not say one way or another in a national address Wednesday while clearly stating: 'Mexico will not pay for any wall.'

Trump fired back this morning on Twitter, telling him it 'would be better' not to come in that case.  

Pena Nieto has repeatedly said his country won't fund the construction of a physical barrier dividing Mexico from the United States. Trump has steadfastly said it will. 

The American taxpayer will foot the bill for the border wall 'for the sake of speed,' Trump has said. Mexico will be paying the money back.

'We're going to be starting those negotiations relatively soon. And we will be, in a form, reimbursed by Mexico,' he told ABC's David Muir in a Wednesday interview. The wall would cost the U.S. 'nothing,' he proclaimed.

Trump was landing in Philadelphia after his first trip on Air Force One as news of the cancelled trip broke. He's attending a GOP retreat there this afternoon

The U.S. president brushed off Pena Nieto's rebuffs in the interview, telling Muir, 'He has to say that.'

'I'm just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form,' Trump said.

Pena Nieto stood his ground in a video address Wednesday night. 'I have said time and time again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.'

A government official told the Associated Press early Wednesday evning that Pena Nieto was 'considering' a cancellation on his Jan. 31 White House visit.

Opposition politicians were demanding that he call off the trip in the wake of Trump's executive order that moves forward with the proposed border wall.

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a former presidential candidate who ran for office on the leftist party's ticket, said Pena Nieto, a centrist, 'will be received there by having the door slammed in his face.

'I think the least we can do in these conditions would be not to show up, cancel the visit to the United States and find a dignified position for Mexico,' he said, according to the Guardian.

Pena Nieto's approval rating, 12 percent in a recent poll, is the lowest of any modern Mexican president. 

He acknowledged after a previous meeting with Trump in Mexico, when the Republican was just a presidential candidate, that he mistakenly failed to say at their joint news conference that his country would not fund the construction of the wall.

After a previous meeting with Trump in Mexico, when the Republican was just a presidential candidate, Pena Nieto failed to say at a joint news conference that his country would not fund the construction of the wall. He admits that was a mistake

Having said it behind closed doors, Pena Nieto did not confront Trump publicly until he came under scrutiny in the press. He challenged Trump later on the American politician's favorite medium: Twitter.

Today it was Trump who put Pena Nieto on notice on the social media platform.

'The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers...of jobs and companies lost,' he said in a two-part tweet.

At which point he added, 'If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.'

Trump has said all along that he intends to revise the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement. 

He's held back on a directive to his administration so far, presumably out of deference to Pena Nieto until their now-cancelled Tuesday talk at the White House.

'I will not allow the taxpayers or the citizens of the United States to pay the cost of this defective transaction, NAFTA, one that should have been renegotiated many years ago, except that the politicians were too preoccupied to do so,' Trump told his party today.

Looking around the room, he quipped, 'Now these people are not in that category. You understand that this is a different group. I think! Right? 

'To that end, the president of Mexico and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting schedule for next week. Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless and I want to go a different route. We have no choice. '

Following his signing of the executive orders affecting the United States and Mexico on Wednesday, Trump had said he expected the border countries' relationship to improve as a result of his actions.

The 'unprecedented surge' of illegal immigrants entering the United States by way of Mexico is bad for both countries, he said.

Likewise, Trump said the renewed emphasis on the elimination of cartels, illegal weapons and illicit cash coming from drug dealing will be beneficial to Mexico.

'I want to emphasize that we will be working in particular with our friends in Mexico to improve safety and economic opportunity on both sides of the border,' Trump stated Wednesday. Adding, 'I have deep admiration for the people of Mexico.'

Pena Nieto, who had bromance-style relations with Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, said in his Wednesday night address, 'Mexico reaffirms its friendship with the people of the United States and its willingness to reach agreements with its government.'

But, he said, Mexico will not pay for the border wall.