Mexico's newly elected leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged to "reach an understanding" with US President Donald Trump at a time when both countries need consensus on everything from trade to security and migration.
The two leaders spoke on the phone for 30 minutes on Monday with Trump saying they discussed topics including border security, trade and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) adding "I think the relationship will be a very good one."
Lopez Obrador, who won by a landslide on the weekend, did not provide specifics on what an "understanding" with the Trump administration might look like during an interview with Televisa news network but emphasised the need for mutual respect and cooperation.
"We are conscious of the need to maintain good relations with the United States. We have a border of more than 3,000 kilometres, more than 12 million Mexicans live in the United States. It is our main economic-commercial partner," Lopez Obrador said.
"We are not going to fight. We are always going to seek for there to be an agreement. ... We are going to extend our frank hand to seek a relation of friendship, I repeat, of cooperation with the United States."
Mexico's business and political elite, who fiercely opposed Lopez Obrador's populist candidacy, have pledged to support his presidency, while the largely orderly vote in which his rivals conceded defeat quickly and gracefully is being hailed as a win for democracy.
With nearly three-quarters of the ballots counted, Lopez Obrador has about 53 per cent of the vote - the most for any presidential candidate since 1982, a time when the Institutional Revolutionary Party was in its 71-year domination of Mexican politics and ruling party victories were a given.
Rivals Ricardo Anaya and Jose Antonio Meade acknowledged Lopez Obrador's win before official results were announced, in a break from past elections.
Lopez Obrador himself refused to accept his two previous presidential losses, and in 2006 his supporters set up a protest camp that caused months of chaos in downtown Mexico City.
