WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama hailed an "ambitious reform agenda" set forth by the incoming president of Mexico as he and President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto met Tuesday at the White House.

Obama said it was fitting that the men were meeting even before Pena Nieto takes office on Saturday, calling it a sign of the close relationship between the two countries.

"What happens in Mexico has an impact on our society," Obama said before the Oval Office meeting, which also included Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.