President Donald Trump has again drawn attention for his unusual pronunciation of Mexico during a recent speech. The ex-businessman repeatedly said “MEH-HE-HO” instead of the standard pronunciation, leaving some listeners puzzled.
Donald Trump’s remarks on Mexico raises eyebrows
Trump made the comments while addressing a crowd at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. He took a brief detour from his main speech to explain his recent attempt at pronouncing the country’s name like a native Spanish speaker.
“I’m very proud of General Motors. For years you watched companies move production from America down to Mexico,” Trump said, pronouncing the nation as “MEH-HE-HO.” He then repeated it a second time for emphasis.
The president told the audience he had picked up the pronunciation from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whom he described as “very nice.” According to Donald Trump, Sheinbaum says “MEH-HE-HO” “beautifully” when she speaks. However, native Mexicans actually pronounce their country as “MEH-HE-KO,” not the version Trump has adopted.
Donald Trump acknowledged the confusion his pronunciation has caused. “I said to a group the other day, ‘And we will stop all business going to MEH-HE-HO,’ and they didn’t know what the hell I was talking about,” he told the Michigan crowd. “It did not come out as well” (via Mediaite)
The pronunciation tangent came shortly after Trump celebrated bringing more automobile production back to American soil. He highlighted Toyota’s recent announcement about abandoning a plant in Mexico and relocating it to Texas. Trump also claimed that not a single Chinese car enters the United States, crediting his tariff policies for this achievement.
The president went on to compare his trade record favourably against former President Ronald Reagan. “Ever since the presidency of the late, great Ronald Reagan — who in all fairness, who I liked — but he did allow our cars to disappear into Japan and other locations,” Trump stated. He added, “We love him! But on trade, Trump is much better. Much better.” The remark reportedly got cheers from supporters gathered at the Michigan venue.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
