CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump was having dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago on Friday night, a person familiar with the meeting told CNN.
A senior Canadian government official told CNN that some members of Trudeau’s cabinet are expected to attend the dinner. Prime Minister Trudeau is scheduled to leave Mar-a-Lago immediately after the dinner.
The meeting comes just days after President Trump pledged to significantly increase tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office, specifically imposing a 25% tariff on all products sent to the United States. I was disappointed.
“One of the things that’s really important to understand is that when Donald Trump says something like that, he means to follow through on it. There’s no question about that,” Trudeau said. He told reporters at an unrelated news conference Friday morning. “Our responsibility is to point out that in this way he is not only going to harm Canadians, who are actually working very well with the United States; It would also raise prices for Americans and harm American industry and businesses.”
Prime Minister Trudeau said he looked forward to “a lot of great conversations” with President Trump and that the two countries will “work together to address some of the concerns and address some of the issues.”
According to two sources familiar with the matter, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who President Trump has asked to become Interior Secretary, and his wife Kathryn will attend the dinner with Prime Minister Trudeau.
Florida Congressman Mike Walz, President Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, and Trump transition co-chairman Howard Lutnick, nominee for secretary of commerce, were also seated at the table with their spouses. , a source confirmed.
Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford and Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc are also in attendance, the person confirmed.
Canada’s Global News first reported the list of dinner attendees.
President Trump’s tariffs could wreak havoc on supply chains and industries that depend on goods from America’s closest trading partners.
CNN previously reported that President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau had a brief phone conversation focused on border security and trade after the president-elect’s announcement. A senior Canadian government official told CNN that the call was productive and that both men promised to stay in touch.
During the Trump administration, relations between the United States and Canada were at times volatile, particularly over trade issues. President Trump imposed tariffs on Canada during negotiations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Under the trilateral USMCA trade agreement promoted by President Trump during his first administration, many U.S. imports from Canada and Mexico are exempt from tariffs. It is unclear how President Trump plans to implement the proposed tariffs without violating USMCA.
Earlier this week, President Trump met for the first time with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum after Trump announced the tariffs, but both sides issued conflicting statements about the meeting.
President Trump said Wednesday that Sheinbaum agreed to close the U.S.-Mexico border, but on Thursday Sheinbaum denied doing so.
Sheinbaum also suggested that Mexico would retaliate with counter-tariffs if President Trump follows through on his threats.
President Trump has faced backlash in recent days over his proposed tariffs, which President Joe Biden has called “counterproductive” and could “start to ruin” the U.S.’s relationships with Canada and Mexico. he warned.
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Kit Maher, Paula Newton, Kim Berryman, Carnita Iyer and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
