U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will meet Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday in a hastily arranged visit to Mexico hours before delivering a highly anticipated speech on how he will tackle illegal immigration.
True to Trump's flair for the dramatic, the visit will guarantee widespread news coverage for the New York businessman and former reality TV star. But it also takes him to a country where he is widely disliked because of strongly critical comments he has made during his White House campaign.
Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, in several television interviews early Wednesday, said Trump would speak to the Mexican leader about border security, including his signature pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border if he wins the Nov. 8 election.
The private meeting, which Trump and his advisers began considering last week after Peña Nieto's invitation, will be Trump's first official interaction with a foreign leader since he began his presidential campaign more than a year ago, stirring up frequent controversy both at home and abroad.
Peña Nieto has dismissed Trump's demand that Mexico pay for the proposed border wall and in March likened his tone to the ascent of dictators like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said the meeting would cover topics including illegal immigration, trade policy and drugs. Asked on NBC's "Today" show if he would speak to the Mexican president in the same blunt terms he has used at home, Conway said Trump would be "very presidential."
Trump was set to give a speech on immigration on Wednesday night in Arizona as he seeks to find a balance between maintaining the tough line on illegal immigration he took during the Republican primary contest, while giving moderate voters a reason to give him a fresh look.
Trump trails Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in most opinion polls nationally and in most battleground states with 10 weeks to go until the election.
Clinton was also invited to meet with Pena Nieto but it is unclear if she has accepted. Her spokeswoman took a dim view of Trump's trip.
"What ultimately matters is what Donald Trump says to voters in Arizona, not Mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and deportation of millions," spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.