Washington, January 26 (RHC)-- Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has canceled his scheduled visit to the United States after President Donald Trump said his Mexican counterpart should only follow through with his upcoming visit to Washington if Mexico plans on paying for Trump's proposed border wall. 

"The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers ... of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly-needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting," Trump said on Twitter. 

In a recorded speech to the nation on Wednesday, Peña Nieto forcefully reiterated that Mexico would not pay for Trump's border wall.  The Mexican president said: "Mexico does not believe in walls. I've said time again: Mexico will not pay for any wall," Peña Nieto said in the statement released through his official Twitter account. 

Released in response to President Trump's signing of an executive order on Wednesday initiating construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and amidst growing pressure from Mexicans to cancel his meeting with Trump, Peña Nieto's statement attempted to reassure Mexicans living in the U.S. who are increasingly under threat from both the rhetoric and policies of the new U.S. president. 

"I've asked for the minister of foreign relations to re-enforce protection measures to our citizens," he said, adding that all 50 Mexican consulates in the U.S. will be directed to help defend Mexican migrants living in the U.S. 

While expressing "regret" and "rejection" of Trump's decision to build a border wall and increase deportations, he emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Mexican relationship.  "Mexico offers its friendship to the people of the United States and expresses its wish to arrive at agreements with its government, deals that will be in favor of Mexico and the Mexicans," he said. 

And, in what could be related to the current flap between Trump and Mexico, it is being reported that the U.S. State Department's senior administrative team has resigned.  News from Washington, DC says that all are career foreign service officers who have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.