Canada’s Trudeau dines with Trump in Florida amid tariff threats

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Florida on Friday for a dinner with Donald Trump at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate, as the incoming US leader promised tariffs on Canadian imports.

The unannounced meeting comes at the end of a week that has seen Canada as well as Mexico scramble to blunt the impact of Trump’s trade threats, which experts have warned could also hit US consumers hard.

A smiling Trudeau was seen exiting a hotel in West Palm Beach before arriving at Mar-a-Lago, making him the latest high-profile guest of Trump, whose second term – which starts in January – is already overshadowing the last few months of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Flight trackers had first spotted a jet broadcasting the prime minister’s call sign making its way to the southern US state. A Canadian government source later said that the two leaders were dining together.

He accused the countries of not doing enough to halt the “invasion” of the US by drugs, “in particular fentanyl”, and undocumented migrants.