Obama hosts Mexican president for White House talks

WASHINGTON (AP) — The morning after Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, President Barack Obama on today opened the White House to Mexico's president, who has blamed the GOP candidate for damaging relations with the U.S. with his rhetoric about Mexicans bringing drugs and crime to America and being rapists.

President Enrique Pena Nieto's visit comes less than a month after he and Obama met in Canada during a summit of North America's leaders. Obama's meetings with visiting foreign leaders are usually announced weeks in advance, but Pena Nieto's visit was announced just last week.

The White House shrugged off suggestions that the visit was timed to highlight differences between Democrats and Republicans, particularly on attitudes toward Latinos. The Republican National Convention ended Thursday night in Cleveland with Trump's acceptance speech.

"I think it's fair to say that almost anything that President Obama did on Friday would be viewed as a sharp contrast to the agenda that's being put forward by the other side," said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. "But in this case, it's been a while since the president has hosted the president of Mexico here at the White House."

Trump has pledged to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and make Mexico pay for it. He has also said Mexican immigrants "have lots of problems" and when they come to the U.S. "they're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."