Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada (L) and Donald Trump pose for a photo Friday at the U.S. president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Photo courtesy of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada/X
The Canadian government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will bolster border enforcement, a top official of his administration said, following the Liberal leader’s meeting with Donald Trump in Florida last week.
Trudeau flew to the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday as the Canadian leader has been scrambling to find an answer to Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian exports unless Ottawa curbs the alleged flow of drugs and migrants into the United States via their shared border. Advertisement
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the Friday meeting, told the CBC in a Sunday interview that Ottawa plans to add more drones and helicopter patrols, as well as increase personnel along the border.
Specifics will be announced in the days and weeks ahead, he said.
“We told the Americans, we said publicly, we’re going to look to procure, for example, additional drones, additional police helicopters, we’re going to redeploy personnel,” LeBlanc said.
He described the new measures as a “reassurance exercise” as “we believe that the border is secure.”
LeBlanc said the meeting was agreed to during Trudeau’s call with Trump on Nov. 25, after Trump had issued his threat. Advertisement
Trudeau had suggested during the call that they get together before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, and the president-elect the invited him to Mar-a-Lago for the Friday dinner, LeBlanc said.
During the meal, the two leaders discussed a wide range of topics from the border to global concerns, according to LeBlanc, who said Trump had asked Trudeau “a lot of questions” about various world leaders and global issues.
LeBlanc described the dinner as a “warm, sort of social evening,” with the president-elect telling stories about his resort and his successful election campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris.
The dinner also provided the Trudeau government the opportunity to meet members of the incoming Trump administration. LeBlanc told CBC that over the weekend, he exchanged text messages with billionaire Howard Lutnick, who has been tapped to become the next U.S. Commerce secretary and was present at the Friday dinner.
He said Lutnick wants to meet again in the next few weeks to continue discussing shared border issues.
“So, that is very valuable, I think, in helping them understand the shared priorities that we have with their government,” he said.
Following the dinner, Trump issued a statement saying he had “a very productive meeting” with Trudeau, where they discussed issues such as fentanyl, illegal immigration, trade and other topics. Advertisement
“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China. Too much death and hardship! Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families,” he said.
