WASHINGTON — A month after he boycotted a major regional summit in Los Angeles and snubbed the Biden administration, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador came to Washington on Tuesday for wide-ranging talks with his U.S. counterpart.
As usual, López Obrador did most of the talking. Following President Joe Biden’s 10-minute opening speech in the Oval Office, the Mexican president engaged in a 31-minute soliloquy touching on the New Deal, gas prices and opportunities for greater economic collaboration.
Despite both leaders professing a desire to deepen the cooperation between their countries on trade, immigration and other issues, the interaction witnessed by reporters was highly performative and marked by a brotherly sort of one-upmanship.
