Donald Trump mentioned he had a “very productive assembly” with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the 2 leaders met at Trump’s Florida property, Mar-a-Lago.
The males mentioned “many vital subjects,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform, together with fentanyl, unlawful immigration and commerce.
On Saturday, Trudeau advised reporters he had an “glorious dialog” with America’s president-elect, however declined to reply any questions.
Trudeau traveled to West Palm Beach as Canada tries to beat back the president-elect’s risk to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian items, a supply confirmed to the BBC.
Canadian media reported that Trudeau landed at Palm Beach International Airport on Friday night to go to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property.
The two spoke by cellphone earlier within the week after Trump introduced that when he took workplace in January, would have imposed a generalized tariff on all merchandise coming into the United States from Mexico and Canada.
But a lot of Trump’s Saturday afternoon assertion after the assembly centered on the “drug disaster that has decimated so many lives.”
“I’ve made it clear that the United States will now not stand by as our residents develop into victims of the scourge of this drug epidemic, induced primarily by drug cartels and fentanyl flowing in from China,” Trump wrote.
“Prime Minister Trudeau is dedicated to working with us to finish this horrible devastation.”
Neither the prime minister’s workplace nor Trump’s group responded to the BBC’s request for touch upon the go to.
Leaving his resort in Palm Beach on Saturday morning, Trudeau ignored questions from reporters about whether or not he and Trump had mentioned potential tariffs.
The journey was not included in Trudeau’s public itinerary for Friday.
Trump was at his assembly on the Mar-a-Lago property along with his transition group. Trudeau is alleged to be the primary G7 chief to go to the president-elect after the election.
The two males reportedly dined along with Trump’s handpicked commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc.
Trudeau has usually identified that the 2 nations have been in a position to efficiently renegotiate a serious commerce pact throughout Trump’s first time period, even when the connection between the 2 leaders was often rocky.
Speaking at an occasion on Prince Edward Island on Friday, Trudeau mentioned the 2 nations “rolled up their sleeves and have been in a position to create jobs on either side of the border.”
He mentioned he regarded ahead to having many “nice” conversations with Trump.
The Florida go to is Canada’s newest transfer in an effort to keep away from excessive tariffs, which may have far-reaching financial impacts.
It is unclear whether or not the long run Trump administration will truly transfer ahead with the threatened tariffs, as analysts notice that the president-elect is thought to have used such threats previously as a negotiating tactic to attain his objectives.
Trump – who has additionally threatened the identical tax in opposition to Mexico – has signaled they may stay in place till each nations work to safe their shared borders with the United States.
Trudeau mentioned Friday that “when Trump makes statements like that, he intends to make them occur.”
He mentioned his purpose was to level out that the tariff wouldn’t solely harm Canadians, however would additionally elevate costs for Americans and harm that nation’s economic system.
Trudeau was accompanied on the journey by Dominic LeBlanc, the minister chargeable for border safety.
US media reported that Trudeau and Trump have been joined for dinner by Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary; Doug Burgum, chosen to guide the Department of the Interior; and Mike Waltz, who has been chosen as the subsequent nationwide safety adviser.
Canada is one among America’s largest buying and selling companions and sends about 75% of its whole exports to the United States. The two nations additionally share deeply built-in provide chains.
After the cellphone name with Trump, Trudeau held an emergency assembly Wednesday with leaders of Canada’s provinces and territories on learn how to handle U.S.-Canada relations.
Trudeau guarantees to current a united “Team Canada” strategy to working with the United States to advance the case in opposition to the tax.
Several leaders of Canadian provinces they criticized Trump’s plansaying it will be devastating to the nation’s economic system, together with the oil, gasoline and automotive sectors.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum additionally had a cellphone name with Trump this week.
According to U.S. Border Patrol information on migrant encounters, the variety of crossings on the U.S.-Canada border is considerably decrease than on the southern border.
During fiscal 12 months 2024, there have been roughly 23,700 apprehensions on the northern land border, whereas greater than 1.53 million apprehensions have been recorded on the southern border.
But Canadian officers have mentioned in current days that there’s nonetheless joint work to be finished to enhance border safety.
