A wall with Canada? Question laughed off
Trump and Trudeau discuss border
WASHINGTON — White House spokesman Sean Spicer laughed off the idea of building a wall along the northern U.S. border Thursday after a journalist from Montana floated the notion during a daily media briefing.
Spicer and the assembled reporters guffawed when the NBC News reporter, taking part via video link, asked whether there were plans to apply to Canada the same treatment U.S. President Donald Trump has directed at Mexico.
One million travellers a year cross the border into Montana, she said, adding: “What are the administration’s plans to increase security on the Canadian border and does the administration have any plans to build a wall there?”
Cue the chuckles in the White House briefing room.
The timing of the question carried some irony. News stories in recent days have been about people fleeing the other way — migrants leaving the United States on foot and taking unofficial routes to cross into Canada.
It also came after a phone call Thursday between Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where the border was one topic. It was the fourth conversation between the two since the Nov. 8 election, and the third by phone.
Statements from both countries saluted their meeting last week in Washington.
They were vague about what was discussed regarding the border, and whether the leaders mentioned the migrant situation. The Canadian statement merely mentioned the border, in passing, as a conversation topic.
“President Trump emphasized the importance of working closely with Canada on crossborder issues, including implementation of his administration’s actions to protect America from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals and others,” said the White House statement.
Trudeau and Trump discussed softwood lumber negotiations, which have languished for months without a resolution. They also talked about working on the Canada-U.S. women’s business group they created with Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
One thing they likely didn’t discuss: the U.S. building a wall with Canada. Trump has twice brushed off the idea in the past, and his spokesman, after an initial laugh with the White House press corps, avoided directly answering the question.