Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s insinuation that the former was using the tariff “issue” to “stay in power.”
Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa on Thursday that he would not take on the role of a caretaker prime minister and looked forward to the transition. He was asked if he would want to stay on after the next Liberal leader is chosen on March 9 to continue to manage Canada’s discussions with the U.S.
“With your expected departure possibly days away, and also pending an election, are you worried about that having an impact on Canada’s ability to continue negotiating with the United States? And are you considering playing some kind of caretaker role, up to and including staying on as a caretaker PM?” Trudeau was asked at a childcare announcement in Ottawa.
“No, I will not be that,” Trudeau said. “I look forward to a transition to my duly elected successor in in the coming days or week.”
This comes after Trump shared details from what he said was a “somewhat friendly” phone call on social media on Wednesday. The two leaders spoke after a 25 per cent tariff was implemented on Canadian goods being imported to the United States on March 4.
“I told him that many people have died from Fentanyl that came through the Borders of Canada and Mexico, and nothing has convinced me that it has stopped,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after the call.
“(Trudeau) said that it’s gotten better, but I said, ‘That’s not good enough.’ The call ended in a ‘somewhat’ friendly manner! He was unable to tell me when the Canadian Election is taking place, which made me curious, like, what’s going on here? I then realized he is trying to use this issue to stay in power. Good luck Justin!”
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trudeau — who would not know when the next election is because he’s handing power over to the next liberal leader — said the call was “colourful.”
“There are obviously conversations ongoing right now with the U.S. administration, but as I said a number of times, we will not be backing down from our response tariffs until such a time as the unjustified American tariffs on Canadian goods are lifted,” said Trudeau.
He said that the call was “substantive” and they “committed to work together constructively.”
When asked about reports that the call between them got heated, Trudeau said he was “not going to get into it in detail, but there were different sections of the conversation (with) different approaches and tones.”
The National Post reported this week that preparations for him to step down are already underway after his resignation announcement in January, although the timeline depends on his successor.
“That will be up to a conversation between the new leader and myself,” Trudeau said on Tuesday. “It should happen reasonably quickly, but there’s a lot of things to do in a transition like this, particularly at this complicated time in the world.”
Trudeau was asked Thursday if he would want to stay on after the next Liberal leader is chosen on March 9 to continue to manage Canada’s discussions with the U.S.
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