Trump to meet in Mexico with the country’s president

Donald Trump is jetting to Mexico City on Wednesday for a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pe?a Nieto, just hours before he delivers a high-stakes speech in Arizona to clarify his views on immigration policy, according to people in the United States and Mexico familiar with the discussions.

Pe?a Nieto last Friday invited both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to visit Mexico, his office said in a statement provided to The Washington Post on Tuesday night.

Trump, sensing an opportunity, decided over the weekend to accept the invitation and push for a visit this week, according to the people familiar with the discussions.

Late Tuesday, Trump and the Mexican president confirmed that they will be meeting Wednesday.

The visit comes after Trump has wavered for weeks on whether he will continue to hold his hard-line positions on the central and incendiary issue of his campaign, in particular his call to deport an estimated 11 million immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally.

Trump is scheduled to hold fundraisers Wednesday morning in California and deliver his immigration speech in the evening at the Phoenix Convention Center. His trip to Mexico would come between his events.

Early this week, representatives for Trump contacted the U.S. Embassy in Mexico about his intentions, according to a person in Mexico familiar with the communications between the two sides.

Trump’s representatives were told privately by officials that it would be logistically difficult for Trump to visit. But the businessman’s proxies insisted that Trump would not delay his plans, the person said.

Overseas visits by senior U.S. officials normally require weeks of intricate planning on both sides.

While Mexico is not considered a hostile place, the crime level is high and Trump, should he appear in public, would require significant protection.

The invitation — and particularly a visit — seems certain to cause a backlash in Mexico City, where Trump is widely disliked.