President Donald Trump met Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in person for the first time on Friday during the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington, a long-delayed meeting that centered on next year’s tournament but also touched on trade and tariffs.
The two leaders spoke in the president’s box at the Kennedy Center and later joined Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney onstage for the draw. A senior White House official said the three leaders also held a private discussion afterward.
Sheinbaum, who had said before leaving Mexico that she intended to raise U.S. tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum, posted on X after the meeting that they discussed the “great opportunity” of co-hosting the 2026 World Cup and agreed to continue working through trade issues.
Mexico remains the United States’ largest trading partner, and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, crafted during Trump’s first term, is still in force. But Washington is reviewing the deal ahead of a joint assessment set for July, and Trump has repeatedly threatened broad tariff hikes, though many of those threats have not been carried out.
Before Friday, Trump and Sheinbaum had spoken frequently by phone on issues ranging from fentanyl trafficking to tariff disputes, but despite meetings with other major world leaders, the two had not managed an in-person session until now.
Sheinbaum has earned a reputation for managing a sensitive relationship with Washington by balancing respect with occasional humor and polite pushback. Mexican officials have been working to ease the impact of existing U.S. tariffs and prevent new ones, particularly measures that could hit the country’s crucial automotive sector.
Mexico also continues to negotiate over import levies of 25 percent on the automotive industry and 50 percent on steel and aluminum. At the same time, Sheinbaum’s government has been working to protect millions of Mexican nationals living in the United States as the Trump administration expands mass deportation operations. A new 1 percent U.S. tax on remittances sent from the United States to Mexico is set to take effect on January 1.
Immigration, though once at the center of bilateral tensions, has taken a lower profile amid a sharp drop in illegal border crossings. Recent discussions have focused more on persuading countries to take back their nationals and integrate them to reduce migration pressures — a key White House objective.
On security, Mexico has extradited dozens of cartel suspects to the United States and expanded authority for its security chief, steps that U.S. officials say have improved cooperation on fentanyl and organized crime. Still, disagreements persist. Trump has criticized Sheinbaum for rejecting his suggestion that U.S. forces could conduct operations in Mexico, an idea she has firmly dismissed.
Sheinbaum also objected to U.S. maritime strikes on suspected drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Trump, in turn, has accused her of being constrained by cartel violence. She avoided escalating the dispute, choosing not to respond directly to the remarks.
Friday’s meeting, though largely framed around the World Cup, offered the two leaders their first opportunity for direct talks as both sides navigate a complex agenda involving trade, migration and security ahead of 2026.