Mexican President López Obrador Hints of Biden Visit in January Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reviews the honor guard at the Revolution Palace in Havana, Cuba, on May 8, 2022. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
By Jay Clemons | Friday, 25 November 2022 04:54 PM EST
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador dropped hints Friday of President Joe Biden making a formal visit to Mexico in January.
While speaking to reporters, López Obrador suggested that Jan. 9-10, 2023, would be the target dates of Biden coming to Mexico City, as a means of attending the North American Leaders' Summit, which will include Canada.
The summit had initially been scheduled for December. However, those plans fell through, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
"We're still working through plans for the next North Americans Leaders' Summit and have no travel announcement to make at this time," said Jean-Pierre in mid-October.
Neither the White House nor Canadian officials have yet to confirm any dates for a possible Biden-Mexico visit, according to The Hill.
Prior to the Trump administration, the U.S., Mexico and Canada prioritized meeting annually for a round of talks.
In November 2021, Biden hosted Mexico's López Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a summit meeting in Washington, D.C.
In June, López Obrador boycotted the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, reportedly due to the Biden administration's refusal to invite the leaders of Cuba and Nicaragua, along with representatives of the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela — which the U.S. government does not formally recognize.
One month later, though, López Obrador visited the White House for a bilateral meeting, with the discussions reportedly covering the proliferation of lethal drugs, such as fentanyl, wreaking havoc on both countries, along with immigration policies.
And in April, the Biden and López Obrador administrations were seemingly at odds over the White House's energy policies.
According to ForeignPolicy.com, Biden officials wanted to increase state control of Mexico's electric power market from 38% to 54% — a move that would have amounted to "the biggest conflict yet" between Mexico and the U.S., under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.