- The Washington Times - Saturday, November 30, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump said that his meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was “productive,” but made no mention of backing off his tariff threat.

Mr. Trudeau flew to West Palm Beach, Florida, to meet with Mr. Trump after the president vowed to slap Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs on goods until the flow of illegal migrants and drugs into the U.S. ends. 

Mr. Trump posted Saturday on Truth Social that the two discussed “many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address,” including the death toll from fentanyl and its connection to illegal immigration, fair trade deals that don’t jeopardize American workers and the “massive trade deficit” between the U.S. and Canada

“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” Mr. Trump said. “Too much death and hardship!” 

He added, “Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families. We also spoke about many other important topics like Energy, Trade and the Arctic. All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in Office, and before.”

Mr. Trudeau similarly characterized the conversation as “excellent,” The Associated Press reported, but it was unclear whether any concern he had about Mr. Trump’s threats were abated. 

The president-elect’s meeting with Mr. Trudeau followed a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier this week. Both Ottawa and Mexico City have threatened retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. if Mr. Trump makes good on his tariff plan.  

Mr. Trump’s conversation with Ms. Sheinbaum centered around migration and the flow of drugs from Mexico, but the two leaders had different characterizations of the chat’s results.

The president-elect posted that Ms. Sheinbaum agreed “to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border.”

Mexico’s president explained that her country’s position “is not to close borders but to build bridges between governments and between peoples.”

• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.

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