As the United States and Canada exchange the spikes, it is so good for the Sheinbaum in Mexico

By announcing the decision to postpone some rates in Mexico for another month, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, struggled to praise his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum.

“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for President Sheinbaum,” he wrote in his social media site, Truth Social. “Our relationship has been very good and we are working hard, together, on the border.”

The comments were in marked contrast to the type of language he has used for the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who continues as “Governor Trudeau”, while calling Canada “State 51”.

The Word of Words, if not the trade, continues between Canada and the Trump administration with Prime Minister Trudeau by calling the entire “dumb” tariff policy and the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Besent, calling him “Numbskull” in return.

The tone difference between the American neighbor to the north and the south could hardly be more surprising.

Some, particularly in the camp of Claudia Sheinbaum, see it as evidence of their skilled management of an unpredictable leader in the White House, one that has made several bold statements of intention, only for them to retire or dilute.

Certainly, President Sheinbaum has delivered a unique message from the beginning: Mexicans should “keep calm” about Trump, he said, insisting that “the coldest heads will prevail.”

In that sense, it has been so good for the Mexican leader.

Twice, now, in two months he has managed to avoid the imposition of 25% tariffs on Mexican goods through a last -minute phone call to President Trump, although he said there was no “place” for negotiation.

It is a testimony of his diplomacy that Trump seems to genuinely appreciate his tone, clarity and general behavior in his interactions.

She has refused to publicly accept that Mexico has not done enough about any of the main border problems in which Trump demands action of her neighbors: Fentanyl traffic and undocumented northern immigration.

The informative session of the morning press on Thursday began when referring to new figures of the Customs and Border Protection of the United States that show that fentanyl convulsions have fallen to 263 kilos, their lowest levels in 3 years. It represents a 75% drop in the last six months of its presidency.

When tariffs were avoided in February, Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 troops on the border between the United States and Mexico.

His administration has also extradited (although they prefer the word “expelled”) 29 drug cartel figures To the US to face the trial for charges for murder of money laundering, including a superior drug trafficker, Rafael Caro Quintero, who has been sought by US authorities since the mid -1980s.

Those could have been the measures to which Trump referred to when he said that the two countries were “working hard, together” in border security.

In addition, he has often returned the ball in the direction of the president of the United States.

Where do the weapons from which the posters come from? She asks rhetorically, openly asking the United States to make more to stop the flow of weapons to the south and address their demand for illegal drugs. Drugs can come from Latin America, he points out, but the market for consumption is overwhelmingly in the United States.

Even when the Trump administration recently appointed six Mexican posters as “foreign terrorist organizations”, it seemed to strengthen its hand.

This is because your administration is currently involved in a legal battle with US weapons manufacturers for negligence. If American weapons manufacturers have allowed their products to reach terrorists instead of simple criminals, Mexico could expand their demand, he said, to include a new position of “complicity” with terrorist groups.

And yet, while President Sheinbaum enjoys a strong start for his presidency, both nationally and in the eyes of the world, for his management of Trump, it is worth emphasizing that these are the first days in his bilateral relationship.

“I think he has played the hand that has been treated quite well,” said Mexican economist, Valeria Moy. “I am not sure that it is time to celebrate. But I think he has done what can in front of the threat of tariffs. It makes little sense that any of the teams enters a commercial war.”

The key to Sheinbaum’s success seems to have been refusing to go back in requests or issues of real importance, although in a similar way it does not appear subordinate or acquirer to the demands of the White House.

That is not an easy way to step on.

About some questions: the Gulf of Mexico is renamed by Trump as The Gulf of AmericaFor example, it can be allowed to remain above the fray knowing that it is unlikely that most people around the world adopt their favorite terminology.

In others, in particular tariffs, bets are considerably higher; There is a danger that the constant round trip and instability in the subject can lead the Mexican economy to the recession.

The Mexican weight weakened again during this last episode and, although Sheinbaum affirms that the country’s economy is strong, markets would clearly prefer a more reliable and solid relationship with the United States. Mexico is still the largest commercial partner of the United States, after all.

When I talked to President Sheinbaum in last year’s campaign, shortly before making history by becoming the first woman president of Mexico, she said she would have no problem working with a second presidency of Trump and that she would always “defend” what was correct for Mexicans, including the millions residing in the United States.

“We must always defend our country and our sovereignty,” he told me.

With so many bravuces among these three neighbors in recent days, it is easy to forget that Trump’s presidency still has only six weeks.

The new relationship with the White House has a long way to go, with the USMCA trade agreement to renegotiate next year. But certainly, in the midst of political theater, Claudia Sheinbaum will be more pleased than Justin Trudeau with how it has begun.