Two members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet will be in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday to meet with members of Donald Trump’s team.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and newly appointed Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc are traveling south to continue talks with members of the future Trump administration, ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20.
“They look forward to continuing the discussions that took place when the Prime Minister met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month,” Jean-Sébastien Comeau, Minister LeBlanc’s communications director, said in a statement.
The duo are also looking to build on a “positive call” ministers had with Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, earlier this month.
In an exclusive interview with CTV’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos on Dec. 19, Homan called border talks with Canada “positive.”
“The conversation I’m having in Canada, I couldn’t ask for a better conversation,” Homan said.
“Of course, steps have to be taken, but from the conversation I had I’m very optimistic that we’re going to come up with a good border security plan.”
Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports if the country does not take sufficient steps to address the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the shared border.
Last week, the federal government laid out a five-pillar approach to increasing border security, but did not provide details on where and how $1.3 billion in allocated funds will be allocated in the fall economic statement.
Friday’s trip to Palm Beach, Florida, will focus on what Canada has done so far to address Trump’s border concerns.
“Ministers intend to focus on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration and the measures outlined in Canada’s Border Plan, as well as the negative impacts that imposing 25% tariffs on products Canadians would have both in Canada and in the United States,” Comeau said in his statement.
The meetings also come amid repeated and ongoing online comments by Trump that Canada will become “the 51st state” and that the prime minister will be its governor.
“…To Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose taxes on citizens are too high, but if Canada became our 51st state, your taxes would be reduced by more than 60%, your businesses would immediately double in size, and you would be protected militarily like no other country in the world,” reads part of a Christmas Day message posted by Trump on Truth Social, his own social media platform.
The Prime Minister’s Office has not directly addressed Trump’s repeated comments.
With files from Mike Le Couteur and Stephanie Ha of CTV News
