Mexico president: Trump visit could have been handled better

In this Aug. 31, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump walks with Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto at the end of their joint statement at Los Pinos, the presidential official residence, in Mexico City. President Peña Nieto said Sunday, Oct. 23, that he could have done a better job handling the controversial meeting with the Republican candidate. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)

MEXICO CITY— Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto says he could have done a better job handling a controversial Aug. 31 meeting with Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Peña Nieto said in an interview with Mexico’s Channel 11 television station that “we could have done things in a better way, that must be recognized.”

The president came under criticism in Mexico for not demanding an apology from Trump, who has suggested many Mexican immigrants are criminals or rapists.

READ: Mexico angry at president’s ‘humiliating’ meeting with Trump

Peña Nieto defended the decision to invite both U.S. presidential candidates, saying he was “looking out for Mexico’s interests.”

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Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton did not accept the invitation.

Peña Nieto acknowledged in the Sunday interview that Trump’s visit was “polemical” and that the political costs influenced the resignation of his trusted confidant, Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray.