Presumptive Speaker, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and US President Donald Trump argue before a meeting at the White House December 11, 2018 in Washington, DC.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., criticized President Donald Trump's policy toward Mexico Saturday after the White House agreed to suspend planned tariffs, saying "threats and temper tantrums are no way to negotiate foreign policy."



Pelosi said Trump had undermined America's global leadership role by "recklessly threatening to impose tariffs on our close friend and neighbor to the south."

Trump agreed on Friday not to impose 5% tariffs on Mexican imports after Mexico agreed to crack down on Central American migrants transiting the country on their way to the U.S. southern border.

Pelosi also criticized the content of the deal reached with Mexico, saying the policy of forcing migrants to remain in Mexico while applying for asylum "violates the rights of asylum seekers under U.S. law and fails to address the root causes of Central American migration."



The House speaker called on the president to do more to cooperate with Mexico and crack down on smuggling networks.



Trump on Saturday criticized Pelosi and House Democrats for not acting quicker on the renegotiated NAFTA agreement, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.



Nervous Nancy Pelosi & the Democrat House are getting nothing done. Perhaps they could lead the way with the USMCA, the spectacular & very popular new Trade Deal that replaces NAFTA, the worst Trade Deal in the history of the U.S.A. Great for our Farmers, Manufacturers & Unions!

The White House wants to accelerate approval of the USMCA by submitting what's known as a Statement of Administrative Action, which would allow Trump to send the trade deal to Congress in 30 days.

Pelosi has criticized the administration's efforts to speed up the approval process.

"The Trump Administration's decision to send Congress a draft statement of administrative action before we have finished working with U.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer to ensure the USMCA benefits American workers and farmers is not a positive step," Pelosi said last month. "It indicates a lack of knowledge on the part of the Administration on the policy and process to pass a trade agreement."

Read House Speaker Pelosi's full statement: