Until December 5th, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump had never met in person, though they had conversed by telephone.
On December 5th, 2025, the two met in person for the first time.
The occasion was the draw for the upcoming World Cup, to be held next year in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
There are to be 48 national teams competing in the 2026 World Cup. In the first round, they begin by playing within twelve groups of four teams. The purpose of the drawing is to organize those groups of four.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. for the draw. Trump and Carney had met, and Sheinbaum and Carney had met, but for the first time they were all 3 together, and for the first time Sheinbaum and Trump met in person.
Source: Claudia Sheinbaum’s Twitter X Account
From Reuters: “U.S. President Donald Trump met with the leaders of Mexico and Canada to discuss trade issues on Friday [December 5th] after the leaders hosted the 2026 World Cup draw at Washington’s storied Kennedy Center.”
“The White House said Trump held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after the star-studded event, but gave no details on their discussions. Canadian media said the meeting lasted for 45 minutes and the leaders spoke on their own, with no staff present.”
Wouldn’t you have liked to have been a fly on that wall?
And this from the Associated Press: “President Donald Trump has finally met with his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Sheinbaum. Their long-delayed first face-to-face discussion focused on next year’s World Cup — and included side discussions about trade and tariffs — but immigration was not the top issue. That’s despite Trump’s push to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border being a centerpiece of his administration, and the driving force in the relations between both countries.”
It’s not “despite” Trump’s push to crack down on the border, it’s because of his successful push to crack down on the border. It’s no longer a major issue between the U.S. and Mexico.
Tariffs and drug cartels, well, that’s another story.
Click here for a short video of Claudia’s trip to Washington.