Mexican President Sheinbaum didn't refuse to recognize Trump win

What is the claim?

A short clip featuring Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is going viral with the claim that she has refused to recognize Donald Trump as the winner of the U.S. presidential elections. 

In the clip, which carries an Associated Press (AP) watermark, she says in Spanish, "There is news that President (Donald) Trump won, but in any case we are going to wait today for the vote count to end in some states before we issue an official statement."

"Mexico's far-left President says she will not acknowledge Donald Trump as the legitimate President of the United States. As if she has a say in who Americans voted for," one post stated. Another said, "Mexico's new ultra-left President says she will not acknowledge Trump as a legitimate president of the United States." Archived versions of the posts can be found here, here, here, and here. 

     Screenshots of the social media posts. (X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is misleading. Her words are from November 6, 2024, and she has since acknowledged Trump's victory. 

What are the facts?

Taking a clue from the viral clip, which carried an AP news logo, we found that the visuals date back to November 6. Associated Press published the same clip, stating, "Mexico president says she'll wait to recognize Trump's win until all votes are counted."

 
Video published by the Associated Press. (Source: Associated Press/Screenshot)

We found an extended version of the video (archived here) live-streamed on Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo's YouTube channel on November 6. 

The video's description reads, "Morning press conference from the National Palace. Wednesday, November 6, 2024 | President Claudia Sheinbaum." We could match the viral clip from the 11:29 mark of this video, where the Mexican President states Mexico will wait for the day for the vote count to end in some states before issuing an official statement. 

This confirms that the viral video clip was from November 6, before Vice President Harris conceded defeat and the Mexican President went on to congratulate Donald Trump.  

While Trump claimed victory as early as November 5, news organizations reported him as the winner on November 6 after he was projected to win Wisconsin and, therefore, at least 276 electoral college votes, more than the 270 needed to win the overall race. Vice President Kamala Harris then conceded the election in a call with Trump. 

Sheinbaum, too, posted a congratulatory message (archived here) on X, writing, "I would like to express my most sincere congratulations to Donald Trump, who won the presidential election of the United States of America. On behalf of Mexico, we would like to acknowledge the American people for their democratic exercise during their election campaign. I am certain that we will continue to work together in a coordinated manner, with dialogue and respect for our sovereignties, to advance the broad bilateral agenda that links us."

Reuters reported that Sheinbaum telephoned Trump on November 7 to congratulate him and described the call as "very cordial."

Mexico-U.S. relations

The Guardian reports that the U.S.-Mexico relationship is one of massive interdependence and always diplomatically complex. During his previous presidency, Trump committed to building a wall along the US-Mexico border to curb immigration, which he had promised to complete if he returned to office. 

Mexico President Sheinbaum reportedly said that Trump's victory is "no cause for concern" for her country.

The verdict

A clip of the Mexican president has been misleadingly shared to claim she refused to recognize Trump as the U.S. president. In reality, she stated Mexico would wait for the official vote count to end before issuing a statement. She later acknowledged Trump as the winner.