President Trump will welcome Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House next week in an effort to smooth the way for passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
Trudeau, a liberal icon popular among Democrats, will join Trump to “discuss the shared economic interests of their countries, including the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The Thursday visit comes amid an uncertain outlook for the trade deal, with the Democratic-led House and Trump clashing on oversight investigations as some Democrats express unease about the deal’s labor and environmental provisions.
The USMCA is a potential legacy cornerstone for Trump, who will launch his reelection campaign at a megarally Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. Trump campaigned in 2016 on replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which he said outsourced jobs. The new deal requires a boost in manufacturing wages and requires Mexico to ease creation of unions.
The pending deal recently appeared imperiled by Trump threatening to impose a 5% tariff on Mexican goods unless illegal immigration was reduced. The threat was averted when Mexico dispatched 6,000 National Guard troops to the Guatemalan border and agreed to revisit other measures in 45 days.
Though working closely on the trade deal, Trump and Trudeau have had a testy relationship. Trudeau was one of Trump’s first White House guests in 2017, but last year Trump erupted after seeing Trudeau criticize him over tariffs while he departed Canada on Air Force One.
Trump tweeted at the time: “PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak.”
Trump later added, “I think that Justin probably didn’t know that Air Force One has about 20 televisions, and I see the television.”
