Ms Sheinbaum (pictured) won praise at home and abroad for her handling of her mercurial American counterpart. Throughout the confrontation her demeanour was respectful but firm. When Mr Trump ordered tariffs on February 1st, she told her team to prepare countermeasures, but did not publicise the details.

The last-minute deal had echoes of Trump's first administration, when he threatened Mexico with tariffs and Sheinbaum's predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador defused the threat, sending thousands of troops under his newly created National Guard to deter migrants from crossing the border.