Former Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton told Newsmax on Tuesday that despite some of the biting social media posts by President-elect Donald Trump toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, "There isn't anybody who's as good a friend as Canada" to the U.S.
In November, Trump warned nations that did not comply with his demands on border security that he would impose on his first day in office a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico. The president-elect has further pressed our neighbor to the north by referring to Canada as the 51st state and calling Trudeau "governor" in some tongue-in-check posts. MacNaughton conceded that Trudeau is "in a very weakened position."
"I understand what President Trump is doing, but I think our relationship, both trade-wise and security-wise, will survive and will flourish. I mean, the fact of the matter is, the United States faces a lot of threats these days from Russia and from China. And there really isn't anybody who's as good a friend as Canada is on both security and on trade," MacNaughton said during an appearance on "Wake Up America."
MacNaughton noted that with Trudeau down by 20 points in the latest polls and Trump having won the popular vote, "he's feeling pretty strong" and can renegotiate upcoming trade deals from a point of leverage.
"I've seen this for four years under the first Trump presidency. And we came to, as President Trump described, the best agreement that the United States had ever done. And it's up for review in 2026, and I'm sure that there will be things that we'll feel aren't working as well as we thought they would and vice versa. But those kinds of things are best negotiated in private," MacNaughton added.
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James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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