WASHINGTON—Much ado about nothing.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he has no immediate plans to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, ending a day of speculation that he might do just that.

Trump made the decision after speaking Wednesday afternoon with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

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“Both conversations were pleasant and productive. President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries,” the White House said in a statement. “President Trump said, ‘It is my privilege to bring NAFTA up to date through renegotiation.’”

The rumours were fuelled by reports in Politico and the New York Times that people in Trump’s administration had drafted an executive order that would begin the process of taking the U.S. out of the agreement.

Bloomberg reported that some administration officials wanted him to make a “dramatic” move before the symbolically important 100th day of his administration, when the media would be assessing his early progress.

NAFTA cannot be immediately cancelled. The draft Trump order would have triggered a six-month notice period, after which the U.S. could have withdrawn or not withdrawn.

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In February, U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted to add a second "F" for "Fair" to the NAFTA acronym and that he would like to speed up talks to either renegotiate or replace the deal.

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