Trump tariffs loomed large as he dined with Canada's prime minister Friday
President-elect Donald Trump had dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday evening at Mar-a-Lago.
The meeting came just days after Trump promised massive hikes in tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada starting on the first day of his administration, specifically calling for a 25% tariff on all products sent to the US.
Trump later said it was a “very productive” meeting, writing in a Truth Social post Saturday that the leaders had discussed a range of topics including fentanyl crossing the US border and the “massive trade deficit the U.S. has with Canada.”
As Trudeau left a hotel in West Palm Beach on Saturday, he said his dinner with the president-elect “was an excellent conversation.”
He did not stop to take further shouted questions about whether the two discussed tariffs or how he’s feeling about his relationship with the US president-elect.
During an unrelated Friday morning news conference, Trudeau said he looks forward to having “lots of great conversations” with Trump and that the two will “work together to meet some of the concerns and respond to some of the issues.”
“One of the things that is really important to understand is that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said Friday. “Our responsibility is to point out that in this way he would be actually not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States; he’d actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and businesses.
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