Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida to satisfy with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property, Canada’s CBC News reported. The assembly comes within the wake of Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on items coming from Canada.
Trudeau was anticipated to dine with Trump at Mar-a-largo Friday evening, in line with senior sources who spoke to CBC News on situation they not be named because of the sensitivity of the journey. The sources mentioned the assembly was pushed for by Canadian officers, the Canadian broadcaster said.
Trudeau’s aircraft landed at Palm Beach International Airport at about 5:30 p.m. native time. A smiling Trudeau declined remark upon returning to his West Palm Beach lodge late Friday from Mar-a-Lago. The Trump transition staff didn’t touch upon the assembly when reached by CBS News.
BRANDON BELL / Getty Images
Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner had been Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choose to guide the Interior Department, Mike Waltz, Trump’s option to be his nationwide safety adviser, and the three males’s wives, an individual conversant in the dinner plans who was not approved to talk publicly and did so on situation of anonymity advised the Associated Press.
Also attending the dinner, the individual advised the AP, had been Republican Senator-elect David McCormick of Pennsylvania, and his spouse Dina Powell, a former deputy nationwide safety adviser below Trump, in addition to Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of employees.
The assembly comes after Trudeau earlier Friday cautioned that if Trump follows by way of on this threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, he can be elevating costs for Americans and hurting American companies.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on merchandise from Canada and Mexico if the nations do not cease what he known as the stream of medicine and migrants throughout southern and northern borders. He mentioned he would impose a 25% tax on all merchandise entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one among his first govt orders.
“It is essential to know that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no query about it,” Trudeau mentioned to reporters in Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada earlier Friday.
“Our accountability is to level out that he wouldn’t simply be harming Canadians, who work so effectively with the United States, however he would really be elevating costs for American residents as effectively and hurting American business and enterprise,” he added.
Trudeau mentioned Trump obtained elected as a result of he promised to carry down the price of groceries, however now he is speaking about including 25% to the price of every kind of merchandise, together with potatoes from Prince Edward Island.
Those tariffs may basically blow up the North American commerce pact that Trump’s staff negotiated throughout his first time period. Trudeau famous they had been capable of efficiently re-negotiate the deal, which he calls a “win-win” for each nations.
“We can work collectively as we did beforehand,” Trudeau mentioned.
Although Trump as soon as known as Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” throughout his first time period, ties between the 2 nations have remained among the many closest on the earth. Trudeau is the primary chief from the Group of Seven nations to go to Trump for the reason that Nov. 4 election.
Trump aide Corey Lewandowski, talking on Fox News Friday evening, mentioned that he was “sure” that Trudeau “goes to come back down and have a dialog with the president and say, ‘Sir, what can we do to maintain this border open, what can we do to maintain items flowing? We know we now have issues we’re right here to repair it.'”
Trump made the tariff menace Monday whereas railing in opposition to an inflow of unlawful migrants, though the numbers on the Canadian border pale compared to the southern border.
The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests on the Mexican border in October alone — and 23,721 arrests on the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024.
Trump additionally railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, though seizures from the Canadian border are few compared to the Mexican border. U.S. customs brokers seized 43 kilos of fentanyl on the Canadian border final fiscal 12 months, in contrast with 21,100 kilos on the Mexican border.
Canadian officers say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair however they’re able to make new investments in border safety.
“We’re going to work collectively to satisfy a number of the considerations,” Trudeau mentioned. “But finally it’s by way of a lot of actual constructive conversations with President Trump that I’m going to have, that can preserve us shifting ahead heading in the right direction for all Canadians.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum mentioned Thursday she is assured that a tariff war with the United States might be averted. Trump posted on social media that he had spoken together with her and she or he had agreed to cease unauthorized migration throughout the border into the United States.
When Trump imposed greater tariffs throughout his first time period in workplace, different nations responded with retaliatory tariffs of their very own. Canada, for example, introduced billions of latest duties in 2018 in opposition to the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian metal and aluminum.
Canada is the highest export vacation spot for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $2.7 billion value of products and companies cross the border every day.
Canada can also be the biggest international provider of metal, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 essential minerals and metals that the Pentagon is raring for and investing in for nationwide safety.
