Trump extols the power of tariffs, reiterates threat to impose them on Canada during NBC interview

Donald Trump is reiterating his threat to impose steep tariffs on Canadian goods if the federal government doesn't take action on border security — and a former official from his first administration says the U.S. president-elect isn't bluffing.

"I'm a big believer in tariffs. I think tariffs are the most beautiful word.... It's going to make us rich," Trump said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press that aired on Sunday.

The president-elect continued to extol the power of tariffs and said they're "a powerful tool not only economically, but also for getting other things outside of economics."

As an example, Trump referred to his threat to slap a 25 per cent tariff on products from Canada and Mexico unless they curb the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders.

Four days after the threat was issued, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Trump's estate in Florida for a surprise dinner. The president-elect joked about the saga in his NBC interview.

"In fact, [Trudeau] flew to Mar-a-Lago within about 15 seconds after the call," Trump said.

The president-elect also said he told Trudeau that Canada has to "close up" its border and that "drugs are pouring in at levels never seen before."

"And I said to the president of Mexico and to Justin Trudeau, if it doesn't stop, I'm going to put tariffs on your country at about 25 per cent," Trump said.

Ken Cuccinelli, a former official in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first administration, said the president-elect's tariff threat is "very serious" given the issues at hand.

"And I think one of the things that people around the world know about Donald Trump is that he will follow through with things like this," Cuccinelli said in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday.

When asked what he thinks can be done to protect the Canada-U.S. border, Cuccinelli said that he "wouldn't expect the president to give the prime minister a checklist."

The goal isn't "zero illegal crossings," he added. Instead, it's about driving them down to "the point where it's not worth people trying to, for example, come to Canada as a way to get into the United States."

What Trump specifically wants from Canada in exchange for removing his tariff threat still isn't clear, according to Canadian officials familiar with the details of the surprise dinner in Florida.

The federal government has made some announcements in the wake of the Trudeau-Trump meeting, including adding more helicopters and drones to tighten up monitoring of the Canada-U.S. border.