Trump: Call with Mexican president delayed over bad cell service

President Trump says he has offered his condolences to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake shook the country last week, saying in a tweet that the call was delayed due to poor cellphone reception.

“Spoke to President of Mexico to give condolences on terrible earthquake. Unable to reach for 3 days b/c of his cell phone reception at site,” Trump said in the tweet. 

Spoke to President of Mexico to give condolences on terrible earthquake. Unable to reach for 3 days b/c of his cell phone reception at site.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2017

The earthquake, which struck last Thursday, left nearly 100 people dead and caused major destruction along parts of Mexico’s coast. 

{mosads}White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked by a reporter on Tuesday why Trump had taken so long to call Peña Nieto. Sanders said the call was scheduled for later that day.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray on Monday to offer condolences over the earthquake, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Mexico announced on Monday that it must withdraw its offer of valuable aid and resources to the U.S., to deal with its own recovery efforts from the earthquake and Hurricane Katia, which slammed into Mexico’s southwestern coast on Saturday.