'Don't worry,' Mexico's president told her people fearing Trump

Headlines this week made Trump’s threat to tariff goods from Canada and Mexico official. But when it came to Mexico’s president Claudia Scheinbaum, Trump didn’t know who he was messing with.

As Bloomberg reported, Scheinbaum won the first round, and it took her a single phone call to get Trump to back off. Canada’s Justin Trudeau needed two phone calls and a trip to Mira Lago.

Mexico’s president is not easily bullied. Art lovers already knew that from her stance on public art. Even when she stood on the wrong side of history with many of her constituents, she prevailed, winning her election as president by a landslide.

As mayor of Mexico City two years ago, Scheinbaum was clearly out of step with the times when she ordered the removal of a feminist statue in the public square.

The statue showed a little girl with a raised fist protesting gender. It replaced a statue of Christopher Columbus - long viewed as a reminder of colonialism.

Sheinbaum showed her grit by replacing the little girl statue with one honoring indigenous women in Mexican history. At a press conference, she made her argument:

“They are some who have historically fought for our country, and it is precisely the Indigenous women who have had the least voice, who were the most discriminated against.”

Enraging the feminists further Scheinbaum chose a male sculptor, Pedro Reyes. But their fury was mainly with the removal of their choice for a statue.

As it turned out, rather than standing on the wrong side of history, Sheinbaum made her own as the first woman elected to lead Mexico, and by a wide margin. She won with at least 58% of the vote, while her closest competitor, a former senator, pulled in only 26.6%.

The fact that Mexico is known as the world’s largest predominantly Catholic country and that Sheinbaum is Jewish is also notable - especially at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world.

Scheinbaum’s victory speech seemed pointed at the railing feminists. “I do not arrive alone. We all arrived, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our ancestors, our mothers, our daughters, and our granddaughters.”

She also “arrived” by her own effort. She had earned a doctorate in energy engineering, participated in a United Nations panel of climate scientists, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump caved to Scheinbaum by agreeing to suspend his tariff hike against Mexico by one month. As he said on Truth Social, their conversation was “very friendly.”

Yes, in the spirit of friendship, she offered her country’s National Guarders at the border. Trading border guards to prevent a trade war is a bargain. Is it any wonder that Sheinbaum’s current approval rating is 75% and Trump's is 50%