Mexico and Canada must work together — and keep Trump under control, says former president Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox hopes a Democrat win in November can tame 'the wild beast'
U.S. President Donald Trump has been a good sparring partner, but it looks like Mexico has won round one, according to the country's former president.
Vicente Fox, who was leader of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, was speaking on The Current about the trade deal that the two countries signed last week. The deal was struck without Canadian input, with Trump hailing it as a replacement for NAFTA.
Fox urged Canada to get on board with the deal, so Ottawa and Mexico City could continue to help each other when they meet "the elephant in between."
"Now we know Trump much better than before, and he's not a good dealer," said Fox.
"It's clear his game. He attacks first, he tries to reduce the capacities of the opponent, and then he takes all the marbles, and like a good kid, he runs away with the marbles."
The U.S. presidency deserves a much better leader, says Vicente Fox
He wants Canada to maintain ties with Mexico, and work together to build a successful North America.
"We must stick together, because the challenges are in the East, are in other economies, and we have to remain strong, remain successful, remain competitive, remain productive," he told The Current's host Anna Maria Tremonti.
Trump announced the deal with Mexico on Monday Aug. 27. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland flew to Washington the next day, but despite days of tense negotiations, no deal was agreed upon. Talks will resume later this week, but on Saturday, Trump tweeted that "there is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal."
Call to legalize drugs
Fox was in Toronto as one of the newest members of the board with Canadian medical cannabis company Khiron Life Sciences Corp. The new role is part of Fox's current political project: international drug decriminalization, and marijuana legalization in particular. He argued that when it came to the illegal drug trade, Mexico was stuck in the middle.
"Mexico does not consume drugs significantly," he told Tremonti.
"Mexico is just in between the drug produced in the south, in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia," he said, and the market when it "comes to the north, comes to United States and Canada."
"The big, the huge consumer markets of drugs is the United States, and secondarily Canada."
'Trump has to be controlled'
Vicente has long been an outspoken critic of the U.S. president, appearing in satirical videos online comparing him to a "rotten Halloween Pumpkin," and saying Mexico won't pay for the border wall in profanity-laden tweets.
Vicente Fox on why Trump's 'beautiful wall' is a bad idea
"When he got to that chair he said: Wow, I'm president now, I have all the power in the world. I can destroy the world, I can kick out Mexicans out of my country, I can build walls."
"That's stupid thinking, that is not a responsible president."
Fox hopes that the Democrats will win back Congress in the November mid-terms, and that "this wild beast will be domesticated."
"Trump has to be controlled, he has not shown a capacity to control himself. He has not shown a capacity to be prudent, to be responsible, to be compassionate," Fox said.
"So we must stop him."
Listen to the full conversation near the top of this page.
Written by Padraig Moran. Produced by Kristin Nelson.