1600 DAILY 07/08/2020

LIVE: President Trump and President of Mexico speak at 6:35 p.m. ET President Trump is hosting President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador today at the White House, where the two leaders just signed a joint declaration on the U.S.-Mexico partnership. The trip marks President Lopez Obrador’s first foreign visit in office. LIVE at 6:35 p.m. ET: President Trump and President Lopez Obrador deliver joint statement “Mexico became the largest goods trading partner of the United States for the first time in 2019,” the statement reads. “Every day, $1.6 billion worth of trade crosses our border, directly supporting American and Mexican businesses, jobs, and workers.” Just last week, President Trump’s NAFTA-replacing U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) took effect. USMCA recommits North America to generating prosperity for ALL of its citizens and strengthening the joint fight against global trade corruption. President Trump has also worked extensively with Mexico to curb the surge of illegal immigration at our border. At the Trump Administration’s urging, Mexico has bolstered its border security efforts and deployed thousands of troops to disrupt human smuggling. “I want to thank Mexico because Mexico is doing a lot right now,” President Trump said after the deal took effect last summer. “They have almost 20,000 soldiers between the two borders. They have 6,000 on their southern border by Guatemala. And they have about . . . 16,000 at our southern border.” These strong actions by President Trump and Mexico caused U.S. Border Patrol enforcement encounters to fall drastically from 132,856 last May to 21,475 in May 2020.  President Trump welcomes President Lopez Obrador to the White House Read the Joint Declaration between President Trump and President Lopez Obrador.

Statement from Press Secretary on religious liberty This morning, the Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision that delivers a major victory for both religious freedom and freedom of conscience in America. In Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s words: Almost a decade ago, the Obama administration attempted to force employers, including religious nonprofits like the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of nuns, to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees, in violation of their religious beliefs. . . . Since Day One, the Trump Administration has sought to lift burdens on religious exercise for people of all faiths. As the Supreme Court has previously stated, protecting the ability of people to worship and live according to the dictates of their conscience is part of “the best of our traditions.” The Court’s decision today carries forward that noble tradition. See the Press Secretary’s full statement on today’s ruling.

Photo of the Day

President Trump and President Lopez Obrador sign a joint declaration in the Rose Garden | July 8, 2020