Trudeau Flies to Mar-a-Lago to See Trump Amid Tariff Concerns
The New York Times
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is the first foreign G7 leader to visit President-elect Donald J. Trump since the election. He is under pressure to persuade Mr. Trump to back down from his tariff threat.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada went to Florida on Friday night to see President-elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, two officials with direct knowledge of the visit said, after a threat by Mr. Trump to impose across-the-board tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on Day 1.
The visit makes Mr. Trudeau the first head of government from the Group of 7, a key forum of global coordination consisting of the world’s wealthiest democracies, to visit the president-elect.
Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Trump dined together on Friday evening, one official said, along with a delegation of senior Trump allies poised for top trade and security positions in his new administration.
Mr. Trudeau was accompanied on his visit by Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister of public safety. The Canadian prime minister was staying in the area overnight, but not at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and home in Palm Beach, Fla.
The Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no information released about Mr. Trump’s schedule on Friday. Mr. Trudeau, on returning to his hotel after spending about three hours at Mar-a-Lago, did not respond to questions about what was discussed over dinner.
Mr. Trudeau has been scrambling to formulate a plan to respond to the threat made this week by Mr. Trump to impose a 25 percent tariff unless Mexico and Canada take action to curb the arrival of undocumented migrants and drugs across their borders into the United States.
