Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto says he has informed the White House he has cancelled a trip to Washington to meet with United States President Donald Trump amid tension over a border wall.

Trump had tweeted Thursday morning that if Mexico is unwilling to pay for a wall along the US border, “then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”

The developments come the day after Trump said he will jump-start construction of a US-Mexico border wall and cut federal grants for immigrant-protecting “sanctuary cities.”

'Talks with Mexico leader would have been fruitless'

Meanwhile Donald Trump said that talks with his Mexican counterpart — now called off — would have been “fruitless” if Mexico is unwilling to pay for a wall along the countries' common border.

“The president of Mexico and myself have agreed to cancel our planned meeting scheduled for next week,” Trump told Republican lawmakers at a retreat in Philadelphia.

“Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless, and I want to go a different route. I have no choice.“