The White House will hold its first state dinner of 2016 in March, when he will host Canada’s new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Obama invited the liberal prime minister to visit Washington “early next year” when the two appeared together in Manila, Philippines, in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The state dinner is now set for March 10.
“The visit will be an opportunity for the United States and Canada to deepen their bilateral relationship, which is one of the closest and most extensive in the world and is based on a shared history, common values, and a vast and intricate network of cultural, familial and commercial ties,” the White House said in a statement announcing the event.
“The visit also is intended to advance cooperation on important bilateral and multilateral issues, such as energy and climate change, security, and the economy,” it added.
The dinner comes on the heels of the State Department’s rejection of the Keystone Pipeline, which would have delivered oil from Canada’s tar fields to the Gulf of Mexico, and Trudeau’s maintenance of a campaign promise to withdraw Canadian warplanes from the bombing campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
