Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Trump for tariff talk
This article has been updated to add new information.
WASHINGTON – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday evening for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, just days after Trump vowed to enact a 25% tariff on all products coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico.
Trudeau is the first of the leaders of the G7 group of industrial democracies to visit the president-elect.
Joining Trudeau and Trump at dinner were several proposed members of the next administration, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, the nominee for Interior secretary; Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, the Commerce secretary nominee; and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who's been named the next national security advisor, in addition to Sen.-elect David McCormick, R-Penn., and his wife Dina Powell, a former deputy national security advisor, according to a photo posted to X by McCormick.
Neither Trump nor Trudeau had much to say about the meeting.
"Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again," Trudeau said in a post on X Saturday, along with a photo of the two seated together at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump, in a posting on his Truth Social platform, described the meeting as "very productive." He said the two discussed "many Important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address, Iike the Fentanyl and Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration, Fair Trade Deals that do not Jeopardize American Workers, and the massive Trade Deficit the U.S. has with Canada."
The Associated Press reported that Trudeau returned home Saturday without assurances that Trump will back away from threatened tariffs on all products from the major American trading partner.
The meeting was prompted by Trump's threat, aired in a Monday post on his social media platform Truth Social, to sign an executive order on his first day in office Jan. 20 to hit the top U.S. trade partners with steep tariffs, which are essentially a tax or fee on all imported goods.
"As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before."
What to know: Trump vows 25% tariff on imports from Mexico, Canada: What are tariffs?
“This Tariff," Trump added, "will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
Because tariffs are paid by importers, not by the originating countries, the additional costs typically are passed along to consumers. That has prompted anxiety, not just among American consumers, but also officials in Mexico and Canada.
Trump also threatened a 10% tariff against China.
An initial phone call, and then an emergency meeting
Trudeau initially spoke with Trump by phone Monday night, hours after he made his tariff promise. The prime minister later described the 10-minute conversation as a "good call."
"We obviously talked about … how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth," Trudeau told reporters. "We talked about some of the challenges we can work on together."
On that call, Trudeau pointed out that the number of migrants who cross from Canada to the U.S. is a tiny fraction of those who cross from Mexico, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.
Trudeau held a virtual meeting on Wednesday to discuss Trump's pledge with other Canadian officials. On Friday, he said Trump's tariff threats should be taken seriously.
"Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There's no question about that," Trudeau said, reported the CBC, Canada's public broadcasting outlet.
"Our responsibility is to point out that in this way he would be actually not just harming Canadians who work so well with the United States," Trudeau said. "He'd actually be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses."
Canada is the top U.S. trading partner, exporting 78% of its goods and services, worth about $482 billion in 2023, over its southern border, according to the Congressional Research Service.
A 'good' and 'very productive' call with Mexico's president
On Wednesday, Trump held a call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The two did not discuss the proposed tariff, Sheinbaum said Thursday. "It was a good conversation and we are going to keep having conversations," she said.
Trump described the call with Sheinbaum as “wonderful” and “very productive.”
An unannounced visit by Trudeau to Palm Beach
Trudeau's visit on Friday wasn't listed on either leaders' public schedule. Trump transition officials didn't respond to requests for comment.
The CBC reported late Friday that Trudeau was indeed in Palm Beach to meet and have dinner with Trump, citing senior government sources. The Canadian public media outlet said Trudeau's plane landed Friday evening at Palm Beach International Airport and that Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc was traveling with Trudeau.
Trudeau was photographed leaving a West Palm Beach hotel on his way to meet with Trump. He was expected to leave first thing in the morning, the CBC said.
More: American consumers say they're struggling. Tariffs will make inflation much worse.
'Not just harming Canadians,' Trudeau says of proposed tariffs
Trudeau told a press conference earlier Friday that Trump's tariff threats should be taken seriously.
"Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There's no question about that," he told reporters.
"Our responsibility is to point out that in this way he would be actually not just harming Canadians who work so well with the United States. He'd actually be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses."
Trump: Canada 'to pay a very big price'
In making his announcement on Monday, Trump said both Mexico and Canada have "the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem" involving drugs and undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. "We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
Trump said in another Truth Social post that he also would levy an additional 10% tariff on top of existing tariffs on Chinese products.
"I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail," Trump wrote. "Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through."
Trump said his proposed additional tariff on Chinese goods would remain in place until it stops allowing illegal drugs into the U.S.
Longstanding threats to crack down on migrants and drugs
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump threatened to crack down on illegal migrant crossings along the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico and to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the country. He has vowed to declare a national emergency and use the military to deport a record number of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
Despite Trump's claim that drugs and crime are at never-before-seen levels, violent crime in the U.S. declined for the third straight year in 2023, including murders, rapes and assaults, according to estimates released by the FBI in September.
Contributing: Michael Collins, Zac Anderson
Josh Meyer is USA TODAY's Domestic Security Correspondent. Follow him on X @JoshMeyerDC.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, Canada's Justin Trudeau dine at Mar-a-Lago to talk tariffs