Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Florida on Friday for a dinner with Donald Trump at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago estate, as the incoming US leader promised tariffs on Canadian imports.
A smiling Trudeau was seen exiting a hotel in West Palm Beach before rolling out in a motorcade later seen by media to be entering Mar-a-Lago.
Joining Trump and Trudeau at dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, outgoing North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump’s choice to be his national security adviser, and the three men’s wives, according to a person familiar with the dinner plans who was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
Also at the dinner, the person said, were David McCormick, just elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and his wife Dina Powell, a former deputy national security adviser under Trump, as well as Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Katie Telford, Trudeau’s chief of staff.
Trudeau said earlier Friday that he would resolve the tariffs issue by talking to Trump.
“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.”
The trip comes after Trump sent shockwaves across Canada when he announced pending import tariffs against neighbors Canada and Mexico, and also rival China, in social media posts on Monday.
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports, or Can$592.7 billion ($423 billion), went to the United States last year, and nearly two million Canadian jobs are dependent on trade.
A Canadian government source told AFP that Canada is considering possible retaliatory tariffs against the United States.
According to the website Flightradar, the Canadian leader's plane landed at Palm Beach International Airport late in the afternoon.
Some have suggested Trump's tariff threat may be bluster, or an opening salvo in future trade negotiations. But Trudeau rejected those views when he spoke with reporters earlier in Prince Edward Island province.
"Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out," Trudeau said. "There's no question about it."
This story has been updated.
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