As southern US states including Texas and Louisiana are battered by Hurricane Harvey, the US President appears focused on his international relations with a series of tweets highlighting the increasingly hostile ties between the US and its closest neighbours, Mexico and Canada.
But Mr Trump seized the opportunity to once again call for a Mexico border wall and threw the future of a lucrative trade deal with Mexico and Canada into doubt.
He tweeted: “With Mexico being one of the highest crime Nations in the world, we must have THE WALL. Mexico will pay for it through reimbursement/other.
“We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada. Both being very difficult, may have to terminate?”
After threatening a government shutdown at a rally last week if the funding for the border wall is not provided in the US budget, questions were raised about whether the US taxpayers may have to fork out for the billions of dollars required to build the barrier when the President appeared to concede that Mexico would not pay for it.
But new White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday it was not a concession when pressed by reporters over the funding of the wall.
Asked whether Mr Trump’s shutdown threat was an admission that Mexico was not going to pay for the wall’s construction, Miss Sanders said: “He hasn’t said they’re not, either.”
Despite Trump’s insistence, Mexico’s foreign ministry says the country will not pay for the wall “in any way or under any circumstance”.
Last month, the US House of Representatives approved legislation to provide £1.2billion ($1.6billion) down payment to start building the wall on along the Mexican border.
The border wall, one of Mr Trump’s key pledges during his election campaign, has caused huge controversy.
Despite claiming the wall would cost around £9.6billion ($12billion) during his victorious election campaign, a report has estimated it is set to cost up to £17.3billion ($21.6billion).
The bill passed 235-192 in the House, with most of the votes along party lines.
Mr Trump has claimed a “big beautiful wall” was required along the entire southwestern US border and that Mexico would ultimately pay for it.
But Mexican officials have repeatedly refused to pay for the wall, leading Mr Trump to suggest the possibility of an import tariff on Mexican goods in order to fund the barrier.
Republican John McCain, who was his party’s presidential candidate against Barack Obama in 2008, said that Mexico would not pay for the wall.
When quizzed if Mexico paying for the wall would be the viable option, Mr McCain said no.
He said: “The US taxpayers are paying a lot of money right now. One of the biggest problems we have is the enforcement of existing law.”
Republican Senator Bob Corker also said the border wall with Mexico was not the best use of US money.
He said: “I do not want to see any additional spending on anything that is not paid for.”