Donald Trump held an extraordinary meeting with Mexico's president in which he called Enrique Pena Nieto his "friend" but insisted he would build a wall between the two countries.
The Republican presidential nominee has described Mexican immigrants as rapists and murderers and frequently insulted the country on the campaign trail.
However, as he stood shoulder to shoulder with Mr Pena Nieto last night, he described Mexicans as "spectacular", "hard-working" people and pledged to work with Mexico to tackle immigration.
Mr Trump said that the two had discussed his proposal for a border wall between Mexico and the US, but not his demand that Mexico will pay for it.
"We did discuss the wall, we didn't discuss payment of the wall, that will be at a later date, this was a very preliminary meeting, it was an excellent meeting," he said.
The visit was an attempt by Mr Trump to appear presidential, appeal to Hispanic voters and salvage his faltering election campaign.
He was due to fly to Arizona last night to give a major address that would finally clarify his position on immigration.
The Mexican president may have invited Mr Trump to Mexico, but outside the palace, his countrymen seemed united in their hatred for the Republican nominee.
For Diego Garcia, Mr Trump is the man who ruined his family's life, and he was hellbent on voicing his rage.
In the year since the real estate mogul emerged as a political phenomenon in America, two of Mr Garcia's relatives who were living in Arkansas and Utah were fired from their jobs.
"It happened after his hate speech started," he told The Daily Telegraph as he protested about Mr Trump's visit to Mexico yesterday. "Their bosses turned on them and said: 'You're Mexican; You're fired'."
Standing near the Angel of Independence central statue in Mexico city, a stream of cars honked their support for Mr Garcia, who was wearing what he described as his 'mad dog' green and black wrestling mask.
Mr Trump built his presidential campaign on a promise that he would expel some 11 million undocumented Hispanics from the United States using a “deportation force”.
But the real estate mogul has appeared to backtrack recent weeks, hinting that he might be willing to “soften” his position.
At one point he suggested that he might only deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records - a position that is not so far removed from America’s current policy.
Across the country - and crucially in the key swing states - Mr Trump trails way behind his rival Hillary Clinton in support among minorities.
But in both his visit with Mr Pena Nieto and his Arizona address Mr Trump will have to carefully walk the fine line between pleasing his Republican base and expanding it.
While the centre-right will see his Mexico debut as a key test of Mr Trump's diplomatic credentials, any softening on the positions will be seen as a betrayal by his faithful. In the course of the campaign, Mr Trump has labelled Mexicans rapists and drug dealers. He has threatened to unravel the North American Free Trade Agreement - a move that could decimate the Mexican economy.
Mr Trump's most cheered for policy by his supporters is the building of a giant wall to separate Mexico from the United States, and his assertion that Mr Pena Nieto will pay for it - something that the Mexican president has furiously refused to do.
Mike Pence, Mr Trump's running mate said on Wednesday that Mr Trump and Pena Nieto are expected to discuss the logistics of Trump's proposed border wall.
Mr Pena Nieto was widely criticised for inviting Mr Trump for the meeting. Vincente Fox, the former Mexican president warned that Mr Pena Nieto's invitation to Mr Trump risked inflicting serious damage to his presidency.
"Mr Trump is using Mexico, using President Pena Nieto, to boost his sinking poll numbers," Mr Fox told CNN Wednesday.
He said Mr Pena Nieto "taking an enormous political risk" by hosting Trump, Fox said. "If he's gone soft on Trump, it will hurt him greatly."
