Last night, the White House announced that President Trump was willing to renegotiate, rather than terminate, NAFTA. This was a departure from Trump's earlier promises to pull the United States out of NAFTA entirely. In a phone call Wednesday, Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that the United States was not going to withdraw from the agreement.
Apparently, this change of heart came from none other than Trudeau. The Canadian PM said on Thursday that he explained that withdrawing from NAFTA could have serious consequences, and Trump agreed to reconsider.
Trudeau says Trump was ready to pull out of NAFTA but Trudeau pointed out economic consequences & they agreed to sit down and renegotiate
— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) April 27, 2017
Also on Thursday, Trump said that he "likes" both Trudeau and Nieto, and thus agreed to sit down and renegotiate.
Trump: I “was going to terminate NAFTA as of 2 or 3 days from now” but Trudeau/Peña Nieto asked “could you please renegotiate” & I like them pic.twitter.com/N447uS2IbV
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 27, 2017