海角大神

On June 16, 2015, Donald Trump 听with a promise: "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall."

In the past two days, that wall drew closer to reality. But Mexico doesn't sound any more likely to pay for it.

Mr. Trump echoed the campaign promise Wednesday听with an executive order stating听that it听"is the policy of the executive branch to ... secure the southern border of the United States through on the southern border."

Some of Trump鈥檚 fellow Republicans are making moves to supply the funds. On Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both at a GOP retreat in Philadelphia, said during a news conference that they plan to introduce legislation this year providing $12 billion to $15 billion for the wall's construction.

But not all GOP lawmakers agree. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said that he is "not inclined to support it." Stronger criticism came from Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, whose district shares an 800-mile border with Mexico.

"Building a wall is the way to secure the border," he said in a statement. "Big Bend National Park and many areas in my district are perfect examples of where a wall is unnecessary and would negatively impact the environment, private property rights, and economy."

Neither Representative Ryan nor Senator McConnell specified where the funds could come from, but Ryan assured reporters that, "if we鈥檙e going to be spending on things like infrastructure, we鈥檙e going to find the fiscal space to pay for that."

For his part, Trump continues to emphasize听that "we will be, in a form, " for the construction of the wall, as he said in an interview Wednesday with ABC鈥檚 David Muir.

But Mexico, for one, doesn't seem to agree.听Early Thursday, , if Mexico was unwilling to pay for the wall, Mexican President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto should not attend a planned meeting with Trump next week. Mr. Pe帽a Nieto, that Mexico will not fund the wall, promptly cancelled.

Many of Mexico鈥檚 leaders are taking Trump鈥檚 statements with a grain of salt. "I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter," the country鈥檚 finance secretary, Jos茅 Antonio Meade, told Radio Formula, as reported by the Associated Press.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Thursday that the Trump administration would seek to impose a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports to fund the wall's construction 鈥� a proposal that would require Congressional approval. Later in the day, however, after some Republicans criticized the idea, Mr. Spicer sought to rescind his statement, recasting the 20 percent tariff as among several options currently being considered.

"Border security yes, tariffs no," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina wrote in a tweet. "Mexico is 3rd largest trading partner. Any tariff we can levy they can levy. ."

The ongoing disagreement between the US and Mexico has made many observers underscore the importance of binational cooperation that they say will be needed to properly address migration, drug violence, and other issues facing the two neighbors.

"To have good trade and relations between the two countries ...听you have to have coordination and collaboration," Luis Ribera, the听director of the Center for North American Studies at Texas A&M University in College Station, told 海角大神 earlier this week.

But there has been a "cooling off" of these ties since the election, he added. "For sure the wall is putting a chill on relations."

"The question isn't really 'Will cooperation continue? 鈥� much, if not most, of it can and will," Shannon O鈥橬eil, the senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, told the Monitor last week, after drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman was extradited to the United States. "The question is will it be done well, or will the bitter words and hard feelings erode these deep ties."

This report contains material from Reuters and the Associated Press.