Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Relations met with high-ranking members of President Donald Trump's administration at the White House Thursday, bypassing the normal reception from the U.S. Secretary of State, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Secretary Luis Videgaray met Trump senior adviser, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, national security advisor H.R. McMaster, and financial aide Gary Cohn, but not any State Department officials.
State spokesman Mark Toner told the Times that he was unaware Videgaray had come to Washington. The foreign secretary explained to the paper that he told Secretary of Sate Rex Tillerson himself on the phone Wednesday night.
Videgaray told the Times that he used the meeting at the White House to raise concern over reports that migrant children may be separated from their parents at the border.
"We believe that to separate families at their arrival, independently of the reasons that may motivate this policy, represents an attack against the integrity of the fundamental unit of social life that is family," Videgaray said at the Mexican Embassy, according to The Hill.
Videgaray also addressed trade concerns between his country and the U.S., telling reporters that formal talks on commerce will start in mid-2017, and that "possible deals over trade could be reached toward the end of the year," according to Reuters.
The secretary added that early discussions regarding changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement were going well, and that all involved are focused on improving the deal for all.
"All of the preliminary conversations we've had about the potential renegotiation of NAFTA have actually been constructive. There is no talk about unilateral actions, there is talk about the potential for making NAFTA better for the three countries — Mexico, the U.S. and Canada," he said.
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