The president of Mexico is backing down from combative comments towards President-elect Donald Trump as he touts an early victory on border security - leaving Democrats spluttering in rage.

Within days of threatening to slap tariffs on Mexican goods, Trump announced that President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to shut the border down - an impressive diplomatic achievement, considering Trump is not even in office yet.

Trump's early win

In a post Wednesday, Trump said he had a "wonderful" conversation with Sheinbaum, who initially responded to Trump's tariff threat with hostility.

"She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border. We also talked about what can be done to stop the massive drug inflow into the United States, and also, U.S. consumption of these drugs. It was a very productive conversation!,” Trump wrote.

"Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!,” Trump wrote in another post.

Earlier this week, Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico if they do not do more to control immigration, leading Sheinbaum to threaten retaliatory tariffs in a testy letter blaming America for fueling the drug trade.

“President Trump, migration and drug consumption in the United States cannot be addressed through threats or tariffs,” Sheinbaum wrote.

Sheinbaum backs down

After her call with Trump, Sheinbaum struck a more conciliatory tone, saying there is "no possibility of a tariff war."

However, she has downplayed the impact of her "excellent" conversation with Trump - claiming she never agreed to close down the border while at the same time claiming Mexico has already stopped the flow of immigrants.

"We reiterate that Mexico's position is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples," she wrote on X.

Separately, Sheinbaum said that she and Trump discussed working together on the fentanyl crisis, which has cost many thousands of innocent Americans their lives.

While she tries to save face, Sheinbaum realizes Mexico cannot sustain a long trade war with the world's largest economy. She can act tough, but she needs to respect Trump's demands.

Sheinbaum clearly wanted to start off her relationship with Trump in a dominant position, but Trump called her bluff right away and reminded America's southern neighbors what tough U.S. leadership looks like.

What a refreshing change!