Team Trump plays nice in first visit to Mexico president-elect

Top officials from US President Donald Trump's administration met with Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both sides upbeat on the potential for a turning point in the countries' troubled relationship.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday led the high-level delegation to meet the leftist leader known as "AMLO," who will take office on December 1 after winning a landslide election victory.

Trump's son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were also along for the one-day trip, which included meetings with Mexico's outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray.

Pompeo was all smiles as he met Lopez Obrador on the leftist's own turf -- an aging Mexico City house with scant security where his transition team has its offices. "We look forward to working with President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador," Pompeo said later at a press conference.

"It was a priority for me to begin building our relationship with him and his team." Lopez Obrador's pick for foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, also said the 40-minute meeting had been positive.

"It was a frank, respectful and cordial dialogue. It was a successful first conversation," he told a separate press conference. "I believe we can be reasonably optimistic that Mexico will be able to find a basis for understanding and have a better relationship with the United States."