President-elect Donald Trump threw another jab at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau amid tariff tensions.
On Tuesday, Trump appeared to mock the prime minister in a post on Truth Social, referring to him as “governor.”
“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” reads the post. “I look forward to seeing the governor again soon so that we may continue our in-depth talks on tariffs and trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all!”
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
His comments came hours after Trudeau said Canada would respond to the president-elect’s threat of slapping a 25% tariff on products coming into the US from Canada.
At an event at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce on Monday, the prime minister said, “We will, of course, as we did eight years ago, respond to unfair tariffs in a number of ways.”
He added that the economic impact of the tariffs would be “devastating” but urged Canadians “not to panic.”
“We have to be thoughtful and strategic, not go around making our opponents’ arguments for him, but making our arguments in a significant and united way,” said Trudeau.
Good to see you, @TimHoustonNS. We’ll keep working to get big things done for Nova Scotians. pic.twitter.com/RUBB6Hiuf4
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) December 9, 2024
Trump is demanding that the Canadian government address his border concerns, which his incoming administration sees as a “huge national security issue.”
Last week, the former reality TV star posted a cryptic, AI-generated image on his social media accounts depicting him next to a Canadian flag overlooking mountain ranges after “joking” about Canada becoming the 51st state of America.
Trump reportedly made the comments on November 29 during dinner with Trudeau and other government officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The remarks certainly sparked controversy, but Canada’s public safety minister, Dominic LeBlanc, insisted that Trump was only joking.
“It was a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida on a long weekend on American Thanksgiving,” said LeBlanc. “The conversation was going to be lighthearted. The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us, of course, on that issue. It is in no way a serious comment.”
Still, Trump doubled down on the remarks of Canada becoming the 51st state in an interview with NBC over the weekend.
With files from Irish Mae Silvestre