Obama calls Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexican president, to reaffirm friendship

With Mexico worried about the deportation and border security plans of President-elect Donald Trump, President Obama spoke by phone Monday with the Mexican president to “take steps to solidify the relationship” between the two countries.

The White House said Mr. Obama told Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto “how much the United States values and depends upon its relationship and collaboration with Mexico.”

“Both presidents agreed to continue to take steps to solidify the relationship and institutionalize mechanisms of cooperation that have been created with bipartisan support to ensure that the strong and mutually beneficial partnership between Mexico and the United States endures,” the White House said.

Mr. Trump has vowed to build a wall along the Mexican border and force Mexico to pay for it, to stem illegal immigration. He also said he plans to deport millions of illegal immigrants, a promise he reiterated in an interview on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Pena Nieto discussed “the progress the two countries have made deepening economic relations, combatting organized crime, managing migration, and strengthening the rule of law to the benefit of the American and Mexican people,” the White House said.

The administration’s statement said the Mexican leader “commended President Obama for being a steadfast friend of the Mexican people and a committed partner.”