OTTAWA— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Palm Beach, Fla., dining with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and several White House cabinet nominees for the incoming administration.
Trudeau and Trump met for dinner this evening at the U.S. president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate, a source has confirmed to National Post.
The prime minister is bringing with him his chief of staff Katie Telford and Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc, who is responsible for border security, an issue that Trump has criticized Canada about.
Trump is bringing along his pick for interior secretary, Gov. Doug Burgum, and Mike Waltz, his pick for national security advisor, with their wives, the source said.
Also joining is Howard Lutnick, the president-elect’s pick for commerce secretary, and his wife.
It marks Trudeau’s first meeting with the Trump since his re-election earlier this month and just days after Trump threatened to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on goods entering from Canada and Mexico unless his concerns about border security were fixed.
The Prime Minister’s Office provided no advance notice about the meeting with Trump and has provided no official confirmation. The first indications that Trudeau was travelling to Florida came from observations Friday afternoon of the flight path the prime minister’s plane.
Trudeau had been in Prince Edward Island earlier in the day to make an announcement about a school lunch program.
Since Trump’s re-election, Trudeau and his cabinet ministers have sought to reassure Canadians and businesses they are prepared to handle a second Trump presidency, after Trump’s first term forced the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and tariffs slapped on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Earlier this week, Trump raised the threat of tariffs on Canadian imports unless he sees action on curbing the flow of migrants and fentanyl into the United States, prompting a call between the two leaders.
National Post
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