With much controversy around Donald Trump and his hit on Mexican immigrants, many are starting to disassociate with Trump affiliated works and while it was not an easy decision, Macy’s has decided to join the pact.

Macy’s chairman and chief executive Terry J. Lundgren made the decision to discontinue Donald Trump merchandise on Wednesday, and though it was not an easy decision for Lundgren and took a lot of debating, the reasoning was too large to overlook.

On June 16, Trump made defamatory comments about Mexican immigrants during his presidential kickoff speech. He accused Mexican immigrants of bringing drugs and crime into the U.S. and proposed the idea of creating a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. This brought many, especially those of Mexican ethnicity, in an uproar and has sparked many protests.

Image via Flickr/NOTIMEX PR

However, Trump announces that that was not the reason for his products getting pulled from Macy’s. In fact, according to WWD he claims it was all his decision.

“I have decided to terminate my relationship with Macy’s because of the pressure being put on them by outside sources. While selling Trump ties and shirts at Macy’s is a small business in terms of dollar volume, my principles are far more important and therefore much more valuable,” he said.

That was not all he claimed either, he continues with,

“I have decided to terminate my relationship with Macy’s because of the pressure being put on them by outside sources. While selling Trump ties and shirts at Macy’s is a small business in terms of dollar volume, my principles are far more important and therefore much more valuable.”

Trump then continues to take a stand against overseas production in China and shares the principles in which he claims.

“I have never been happy about the fact that the ties and shirts are made in China, and should I start a new product line somewhere in the future, I would insist that they are made in America. Quite frankly, I was never satisfied with manufacturing my product in China, but because of what they’ve done in terms of devaluing their currency, it is very hard for other companies to compete and make such apparel in the United States. These are the kinds of issues I am committed to addressing.”

Then it seemed like he started to address the border controversy when he said,

“Securing our border, negotiating trade deals that benefit the United States and bringing jobs back to America is my top priority. I have always said that if you are successful, it is very hard to run for office, especially the office of president. I have also continually stated that I am not beholden to anyone and this includes NBC and Macy’s. Clearly, NBC and Macy’s support illegal immigration, which is totally detrimental to the fabric of our once great country. Both Macy’s and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators, who are not looking out for the people they purport to represent, but only for themselves. It is people like this that are actually running our country because our leaders are weak and ineffective.”

Trump ends with,

“If elected, I will greatly strengthen our border, making it impenetrable, putting a stop to illegal immigration.”

Whether it was Trump’s or Macy’s decision, the division may be very hard for Lundgren and Trump, who before were very close both professionally and personally. Being New York’s two biggest businessmen, they have formed bonds by being golf buddies. Macy’s has sold Trump products, including men’s suits, shirts, accessories and exclusive fragrance collections for about a decade. His fragrances licensed with Parlux Ltd. like ‘Success’ and ‘Empire’ were exclusive to Macy’s. Macy’s has also been a strong supporter of many of Trumps organizations, such as the yearly Ice Skating in Harlem program for young girls held at Trump Rink in Central Park.

Despite Trump’s claim, Macy’s says they decided to discontinue ties following the many other corporations that have done so already. NBC has decided not to broadcast the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, which have been partnered with Trump. Mexico station, Televisa will not be airing the pageants either. Reports of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim dropping his project with Trump on Slim’s Ora TV station have been made. As well as, the hair-care company Farouk Systems Inc. decision to end sponsorship with the beauty pageant and Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” show.

This was not the only pressure Macy’s has had to stop ties with Trump affiliated products. In 2012, a petition on MoveOn.org called the “Dump Trump” campaign for Macy’s to stop selling his products due to continuous inflammatory remarks.

“In the last few days, Donald Trump has demonstrated what participants in the Dump Trump effort have been warning Macy’s about for years — that Donald Trump’s brand of bigoted bullying is simply bad for business,” said Angelo Carusone who organized the petition.

Image via Flickr/HuffPost Photo

Macy’s growth of Latino customers has also been a big reason for the drop. They have started a private brand with popular Mexican soap opera actress Thalia. The Thalia brand has become extremely popular at Macy’s retailers. As of now, 16 percent of the stores traffic is Latino and there is an expected growth of 20 percent in the next couple years.

“Macy’s is a company that stands for diversity and inclusion. We have no tolerance for discrimination in any form. We welcome all customers, and respect for the dignity of all people is a cornerstone of our culture. We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico. We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation. In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which are inconsistent with Macy’s values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump and will phase-out the Trump men’s wear collection, which has been sold at Macy’s since 2004,” said Macy’s in a statement made Wednesday

Macy’s still sells Trump’s Success fragrance and did not specify if they will be discontinuing that as well.