President Trump says there’s a 'good chance' of striking deal to avoid Mexico tariffs

While on the flight back from his recent trip to Europe, President Donald Trump hinted that there's a "good chance" his administration may strike a deal to avoid the implementation of proposed punitive tariffs on Mexican goods.

"If we are able to make the deal with Mexico, & there is a good chance that we will, they will begin purchasing Farm & Agricultural products at very high levels, starting immediately," the president tweeted from aboard Air Force One on Friday. "If we are unable to make the deal, Mexico will begin paying Tariffs at the 5% level on Monday!"

With Monday's tariff deadline looming, Mexican government officials have been meeting with top administration officials in hopes of that the two neighboring countries might reach a cooperation agreement to curb the flow of illegal immigration through Mexico to the United States.

The administration has been putting pressure on Mexico city to tighten enforcement of the country's borders, as the current border crisis is being driven in large part by migrants traveling across Mexico's southern border in order to get to the United States' southern border.

If a deal is not reached, the administration has warned, Mexico will face American tariffs that will begin at 5 percent and could go all the way up to 25 percent, depending how long it takes for the two countries to strike a cooperation agreement.

After Mexico-U.S. talks wrapped up on Wednesday, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence stated that the discussions had yielded "not nearly enough" progress. On Thursday, White House spokesperson Mercedes Schlapp echoed the sentiment, saying "it looks like we're moving toward this path of tariffs."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, armed Mexican officials stopped hundreds of migrants in a northbound caravan.

"It looks like we're moving toward this path of tariffs," Schlapp said on Fox News. "What we've seen so far, the Mexicans, what they are proposing, is simply not enough."

In a subsequent immigration tweet from Air Force One, the president also lambasted congressional Democrats on the issue, calling them "incapable of doing a good and solid Immigration Bill!"