Trudeau, Italian PM show bond in wake of Trump
One day after Donald Trump called Canada a “disgrace” for policies that hurt American farmers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he plans to be respectful and engage with the U.S. on a fact-based approach to solve problems.
“I will stand up for Canada’s interests,” Trudeau said Friday during a news conference alongside the visiting Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni. “The way to do that is to make arguments in a respectful fashion, based on facts, and work constructively and collaboratively with our neighbours.”
Trudeau offered that reply to the U.S. president’s latest anti-Canada trade tirade, one in which Trump savaged Canada for creating a new lower-priced classification of a milk product that he argues hurts U.S. producers.
Trump’s presence was strongly felt during Gentiloni’s visit, as is becoming almost routine with most of Trudeau’s international interactions.
Both Trudeau and Gentiloni, who met Trump in Washington on Thursday, were keen to display their support for free trade and open borders — including the Canada-EU free trade pact — in the face of growing populist opposition. Gentiloni also praised Canada’s acceptance of 40,000 Syrian refugees as an example for all of Europe.
They took pains not to offend the man most closely associated with the growing popularity of protectionist trade measures and closed borders: Trump.
Trudeau adhered to his firm, don’t-offend-Trump strategy. Gentiloni insisted he wasn’t singling out the U.S. president — even though he appeared to drop hints in that direction from the moment of his first public handshake with Trudeau.