Donald Trump threatened to send US troops to Mexico to deal with "bad hombres down there" in a call with President Enrique Peña Nieto, according to a partial transcript of the call seen by the Associated Press.
Mr Trump used similar rhetoric while campaigning for the presidency, but such a warning in a call with an allied world leader would mark an extraordinary departure from decorum, in addition to the obvious violation of Mexico's sovereignty that enforcing it would entail.
"You have a bunch of bad hombres down there," Mr Trump told Mr Pena Nieto, according to the excerpt. "You aren't doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn't, so I just might send them down to take care of it."
The White House and the Mexican foreign ministry both denied that Mr Trump made the threat.
The Mexican website Aristegui Noticias on Tuesday published a similar account of the phone call, based on the reporting of journalist Dolia Estevez. The report described Mr Trump as humiliating Mr Pena Nieto in a confrontational conversation.
The report emerged after Michael Flynn, Mr Trump's national security adviser, denounced Iran over a recent missile launch and alleged efforts to destabilise the Middle East, saying the US was officially putting the country "on notice".
Meanwhile the Senate narrowly confirmed Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of state, meaning the former ExxonMobil CEO will now be at the forefront of US foreign policy.
Democrats and Republicans were doing battle in the Senate on Wednesday over Mr Trump's other cabinet nominees and his pick for the US Supreme Court.
The president nominated Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge from Colorado, for the high court on Tuesday, and Democrats immediately threatened to stall his confirmation in a tit-for-tat move after Republicans blocked Barack Obama's nominee for the past year.
The president told Republicans senators to consider the "nuclear option" to force Mr Gorsuch's nomination through by changing Senate rules.
Source from The Telegraph
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