We’re glad U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both say they had a nice, three-hour dinner and discussion Friday evening during Trudeau’s surprise visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
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Trudeau called it “excellent” on Saturday while Trump called it “very productive” on his Truth Social platform.
So, score one for Trudeau on his charm offensive to convince Trump not to impose his threatened 25% tariff on all Canadian goods exported to the U.S. on his first day as president on Jan. 20.
But there was no comment from either side on whether Trump will still make good on this threat that would cause economic chaos in Canada and compel the Trudeau government to impose counter-tariffs on the U.S.
This would mean higher consumer prices for both Americans and Canadians and likely provoke a recession in Canada, which makes no sense for either country.
Given that, all that matters from now until Jan. 20 — and beyond — is the success or failure of the Trudeau government in getting Trump to change his mind by satisfying the president-elect that Canada is doing its part to help secure the Canada-U.S. border from illegal immigration and the importing of illegal drugs such as fentanyl.
In light of that, we trust Liberal backbenchers will no longer be posting silly and reckless tweets on ‘X’ disparaging Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as Canada’s version of Trump.
While it’s good that Trudeau and Trump are now on speaking terms, at least for now, that wasn’t always the case during Trump’s last turn as president from 2016 to 2020.
That ended in a tariff war between our two countries that eventually led to the Canada, U.S., and Mexico free trade agreement (CUSMA), which Trump now intends to blow up while imposing his will on the leaders of Canada and Mexico.
The other concern is that Trump knows he’s bargaining in a position of strength with Trudeau because while his mandate is secure for the next four years, Trudeau is clinging to power in a minority government that could fall at any moment, and that must call an election by October 20, 2025.
Given that, we wish Trudeau good luck in his efforts to win over Trump. He’ll need it.