U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense secretary plans this week to become the first Pentagon chief to travel to Mexico for its Independence Day activities, the Defense Department said on Tuesday, in a sign that defense ties are withstanding political tensions between the two countries.
U.S.-Mexican relations have been strained by Trump’s threats to curtail trade with Latin America’s No. 2 economy as well as his demand that Mexico pay for a border wall to keep out immigrants and drug traffickers.
Jim Mattis’ planned trip on Friday would be only the fifth by a U . . .
