Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting President Donald Trump at the White House.
Trump is scheduled to greet Carney at 11:30 a.m. and then participate in a bilateral meeting together at 11:45 a.m. before having lunch at 12:15 p.m.
Despite Trump’s taunting of the U.S.’s northern neighbor, which stirred a furor among Canadians, Carney and the president seem to enjoy a cordial relationship. His previous visit to the White House was friendly.
“Canada and the U.S. each launched consultations last month that will inform preparations for the first joint review of CUSMA. The Prime Minister’s working visit will focus on shared priorities in a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S,” a statement from Carney’s office ahead of the meeting read.
The Canadian government has started to view talks with the U.S. optimistically after a long period of pessimism. Canada’s top trade negotiator, Dominic LeBlanc, told a Canadian parliamentary committee last week that Canada still had leverage in the trade war with the U.S. because it was also hurting the latter’s businesses.
“We are confident that the domestic pressure from senators, governors, business leaders, union leaders, in the United States will also create potentially an opportunity for us to come to an agreement with the American administration,” he said.
