Thanks for dinner: Trudeau’s all-smiles pic with Trump amid tariff hike threat

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday (local time) was all smiles as he enjoyed dinner with US President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida following talks amid the Republican leader’s warning to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports after he takes office in January.

Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Florida on Friday evening and became the first G7 leader to meet with Trump before he begins his second term on January 20 amid fears of the US President-elect threatening tariffs if Canada and Mexico did not curb the flow of drugs and illegal immigration across the US’s borders.

“Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again,” Trudeau posted on X, with a picture of him and Trump beaming at dinner at the Mar-a-Lago residence.

Trump described his meeting with Trudeau as “very productive” and said the Canadian Prime Minister had made a commitment to end the drug crisis that “decimated so many lives”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he made it very clear that the US would no longer sit idly by as its people became victims to what he called the “scourge of the drug epidemic”.

“I just had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, where we discussed many important topics that will require both countries to work together to address, like the fentanyl and drug crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of illegal immigration, fair trade deals that do not jeopardise American Workers, and the massive trade deficit the US has with Canada,” he said.

“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our citizens become victims to the scourge of this drug epidemic, caused mainly by the drug cartels, and fentanyl pouring in from China. Too much death and hardship! Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of US families. We also spoke about many other important topics, like energy, trade, and the Arctic. All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in office, and before,” he said.