On May 30, 2019, in a typical display of compulsive grandstanding, Donald Trump threatened to impose escalating tariffs on Mexico if it did not immediately stop illegal immigration from entering the US. Refusing to be baited, Mexican president López Obrador sent back a measured but firm response:

[S]ocial problems are not solved by taxes or coercive measures . . .  With all due respect, although you have the sovereign right to express it, the slogan “America First” is a fallacy because until the end of time, even above and beyond national borders, justice and universal brotherhood will prevail. Specifically, Mr President: I propose that we deepen our dialogue, seek substantive alternatives to the migratory issue and, please, remember that I do not lack courage, that I am neither a coward nor fainthearted but rather am guided by principles: I believe in politics which, among other things, was invented to avoid confrontation and war.

Over the feverish ten days that followed, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard was dispatched to Washington to sit down with Pompeo and Pence, ratings agencies took advantage of the uncertainty to continue their guerilla war against AMLO’s new government, and speculation was rife as to who would stand to lose the most from a trade war. In the US, Senate Republicans, the business community, and the conservative press openly undercut Trump’s position. In Mexico, AMLO called for a mass rally — the first of his presidency — in Tijuana on the Saturday before the measures were to take effect, warning of the prospect of retaliatory tariffs. Negotiations were stalled and the clock was ticking.