President Donald Trump reiterated Saturday that Mexico will pay for the wall on the southern U.S. border, despite repeated denials by Mexican officials.

"I believe that Mexico will pay for the wall," Trump told reporters at Camp David in Maryland, where he is meeting with Republican leaders. "I have a very good relationship with Mexico.

"As you know, we're negotiating NAFTA," he added. "We'll see how that goes.

"But Mexico will pay. In some form, Mexico will pay for the wall."

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has said that his country will not pay for a wall, saying in his annual address last January that Mexico "will not pay for any wall."

President Trump this week asked Congress for $18 billion to pay for the first phase of the wall's construction. The figure was first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.

Trump has told Democrats that he will not sign any bill regarding protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without funding for the wall being including in the legislation.

DACA, which allows people brought to the United States illegally as children to remain under certain conditions, ends on March 6.

In September, Trump gave Congress six months to come up with a solution to protect as many as 800,000 people who are benefitting from the program.

The president met with Senate Republicans on Thursday to discuss ways to fix DACA.