'We will NEVER pay for a wall,' Mexico's foreign minister tells President Donald Trump via Twitter

Sergio R. Bustos | USA TODAY

A top Mexican government official took to Twitter on Tuesday to deliver a message his country has repeated again and again to the White House: Mexico will never pay for President Trump’s border wall.

“We just reached a trade understanding with the US, and the outlook for the relationship between our two countries is very positive,” tweeted Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso. “We will NEVER pay for a wall, however. That has been absolutely clear from the very beginning.” He tweeted in English and Spanish.

Videgaray Caso’s declaration via social media came in response to Trump’s remarks earlier in the day when he told reporters at the White House that Mexico will "easily" pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The wall will be paid for very easily by Mexico,” said Trump. “It will ultimately be paid for by Mexico.”

Trump has insisted since his 2016 presidential campaign that Mexico would pay for a border wall to keep out illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has been adamant that his country would never pay for such a wall.

The administration wants Congress to approve at least $25 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier this year, the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee signed off on a bipartisan border security funding bill that includes $1.6 billion for a border wall.