President Trump sat down Friday with Mexico counterpart and frequent political rival Enrique Pena Nieto, a meeting that appeared to do little to bridge the gap between the two leaders on Trump's proposed border wall.

Asked before their first face-to-face meeting if he still wants Mexico to pay for an anti-migration barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump told reporters: "Absolutely."

Pena Nieto, who has said his country will not finance any kind of Trump wall, ignored that exchange – and said that he and Trump would have "a very flowing dialogue" that included "the security of both nations, especially in our borders."

Meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Trump and Pena Nieto also discussed efforts to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement that includes the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

A White House statement released after the meeting said that Trump and Pena Nieto further talked about "regional challenges, including drug trafficking, illegal migration, and the crisis in Venezuela."

Trump frequently attacked Mexico during his 2016 presidential campaign, saying the country takes advantage of the U.S. on trade and allows "criminals" to cross the border into the United States. The New York businessman said NAFTA made it easier for U.S. businesses to move jobs south to Mexico.

Mexican leaders such as former president Vicente Fox said Trump unfairly attacked Mexico for U.S. problems, including a high demand for illegal problems and the willingness of employers to use low-wage migrants.

While Trump and Pena Nieto had spoken by phone, this was their first personal meeting. Pena Nieto canceled a planned White House meeting in January over Trump's insistence that Mexico pay for a border wall.

Before their session in Germany, Trump described Pena Nieto as "my friend," and said that "we're negotiating NAFTA and some other things with Mexico and we’ll see how it all turns out. But I think we've made very good progress."

In his remarks, Pena Nieto said both the U.S. and Mexico need to address "in a co-responsible manner" mutual problems like "organized crime issues."