WASHINGTON WHIRLWIND
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent Thursday in Washington, meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House and getting face time with the top Democrat on Capitol Hill, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Mike Blanchfield reports.
FRIENDS AGAIN
One year after Trump insulted Trudeau after leaving the G7 in Quebec — dishonest, weak, meek, mild is how he described him on Twitter — the president displayed a statesman’s grace in welcoming the Canadian leader. Trudeau’s trip to Washington, including his third Oval Office visit since Trump assumed power in 2017, was aimed primarily at pushing the new North American trade agreement over the finish line in both countries. “He’s been a friend of mine. We’ve worked hard together. We worked, in particular, on the USMCA,” Trump said, using the acronym for his preferred name for the new trade pact, the United States-mexico-canada Agreement.
OPIOID INITIATIVES
After his meeting with Trump, Trudeau announced co-operation on a series of initiatives, include a new push to combat the opioid crisis in both countries. They also agreed to speed up two previous plans to ease the flow of goods and people across the border: a new preclearance plan and a longplanned sharing of information on people entering and exiting the two countries will begin this summer. Trump also vowed to do whatever he could do to help detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig when he meets China’s President Xi Jinping at next week’s G20 leaders’ summit in Japan, if Trudeau — as expected — asks for his help. “I’ll represent him well, I will tell you,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens, but anything I can do to help Canada I will be doing ... I would, at Justin’s request, I will actually bring it up.”
TALKING TRADE
Trump and Trudeau projected genuine enthusiasm for the hard-fought completion of a new North American trade deal. Canada has started the ratification process, with legislation making its way through Parliament. Lawmakers in Mexico voted Wednesday in a landslide to ratify the deal, which Trudeau said he was pleased to see. But now Trump needs to persuade his Democratic opponents in the House of Representatives — in particular Pelosi — to allow the actual start of the ratification of the USMCA. Pelosi and her fellow Democrats want stronger enforcement mechanisms for the deal’s new labour and environmental provisions. “Let’s see what happens, but I really believe that Nancy Pelosi and the House will approve it, I think the Senate will approve it rapidly,” the president said. “I think Nancy Pelosi is going to do the right thing.”
TIME WITH PELOSI
Speaking on Capitol Hill next to Trudeau, Pelosi said she looked forward to a “lively discussion” on global security issues and the economic relationship between the two countries, particularly regarding trade. Though Trudeau made clear he wants to stay out of U.S. domestic political wrangling, he reaffirmed his view that it is a done deal that can’t be reopened because it could lead to “worse outcomes for Canadians and for Canada.” “We recognize, however, that the U.S. is going through its process and we remain alert to potential challenges and opportunities that may come through that process.”
PAYING UP ON BETS
Trudeau also had the opportunity to gloat to Pelosi over winning his bet on the NBA Finals that saw the Toronto Raptors defeat her home-state Golden State Warriors. Pelosi paid up on the bet the two made late in the series by handing over California wine, chocolate and nuts. Trudeau didn’t go empty-handed, giving the U.S. House Speaker some Raptors swag and chocolate made by Peace by Chocolate, a company created by a family of Syrian refugees in Nova Scotia.