Florida
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Florida to meet Donald Trump and talk about the 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods the latter has threatened to impose. Trudeau is hoping to fend off the problem during the talks.
Canadian media reports suggest that the PM landed in Palm Beach International Airport on Friday evening to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Earlier this week, the president-elect announced that after taking office in January, he would slap wide-ranging tariffs on all products entering the US from Mexico and Canada. He threatened to impose the taxes if the two countries didn’t stop "the flow of drugs and migrants" across the southern and northern borders.
There has not been an official announcement about the meeting from either side, neither does Trudeau's itinerary for Friday mentions the trip to Florida.
Trudeau is the first leader from the Group of Seven countries to visit Trump since he won the presidential elections in early November. The Associated Press reported that three of his picks for official positions would also be joining the two at dinner. This includes Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, whom Trump has picked to lead the Interior Department and Mike Waltz, his nominee for national security adviser role.
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Their wives would also be present, AP reporter, quoting a person familiar with the dinner plans.
Trump once called Trudeau "weak", but the latter has often talked about how the two countries successfully renegotiated a major trade pact during Trump's first term.
Earlier in the day on Friday, Trudeau talked to reporters and said that he would resolve the matter of tariffs.
“We’re going to work together to meet some of the concerns,” Trudeau told reporters in Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “But ultimately it is through lots of real constructive conversations with President Trump that I am going to have, that will keep us moving forward on the right track for all Canadians.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also spoke to Trump over the phone and said Thursday that she is confident that there would be no "potential tariff war" with the United States.