Canadian President Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau Morning report from The Hill – Biden takes office, calls for an end to the ‘uncivil war’ Biden’s first foreign leader summoned Trudeau from Canada on Friday. World leaders congratulate Biden for becoming president MORE agreed to meet next month, while Washington and Ottawa are looking to restart relations after four years of tension.
Biden and Trudeau spoke by phone on Friday on Biden’s first call with a foreign leader since he took office on Wednesday. Trudeau’s office said in a reading of the conversation that the two agreed to “meet next month to move forward on the important work of renewing the deep and lasting friendship between Canada and the United States.”
It was not clear whether the meeting would be in person or virtual. The White House reading of the conversation said the two “agreed to speak again in a month”, and the White House press secretary Jen Psaki
Jen PsakiOvernight Defense: House approves resignation of Biden’s Pentagon nominee | Biden to seek extension of five-year arms control pact with Russia | Two more US servicemen killed by COVID-19 Biden to seek a five-year extension of the arms control pact with Russia, White House communications director: ‘Biden will not be breaking news at 1 am on Twitter’ MORE said on Friday that he would “spend a little time” before Biden’s first trip abroad.
Canada has historically been the first trip abroad for any new president of the United States.
The two readings said Biden and Trudeau talked about a number of issues, most notably the need to combat the coronavirus pandemic and strengthen cooperation between the U.S. and Canada on other issues, such as climate change and strengthening economic cooperation.
“The Prime Minister and the President recognized that the fundamental priority for both countries is to end the global pandemic of COVID-19. They discussed collaboration on vaccines and acknowledged that the efforts of the two countries are strengthened by existing exchanges of medical personnel and the flow of essential medical supplies, “according to the Canadian reading of the summons.” The two leaders discussed working together to defeat COVID -19 by responding to new variants and following expert advice.
“The Prime Minister and the President discussed their shared vision for sustainable economic recovery, job creation and the growth of the middle class,” he continued. “To that end, they discussed strengthening Canada-US supply chain security and resilience”
The White House also said that Biden “acknowledged Prime Minister Trudeau’s disappointment at the decision to terminate the Keystone XL pipeline license and reaffirmed his commitment to maintaining an active bilateral dialogue and to deepening cooperation with Canada.”
Biden signed an executive order this week canceling a license for the Keystone XL pipeline, the controversial 1,200-mile structure that transported oil from Canada to the United States. Climate activists had undermined the project, saying the pipeline would transport oil made from tar sands – whose production is carbon intensive – over sacred indigenous lands.
Despite initial disagreement over the Keystone XL gas pipeline, Biden and Trudeau expressed a desire to normalize relations that were turbulent under the former President Trump
Donald TrumpMcCarthy said he told Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene that he disagreed with his impeachment articles against Biden Biden, Trudeau agrees to meet next month that Trump planned to oust AG to overturn the election results in Georgia: report MORE.
The previous government took a more antagonistic stance with Ottowa, applying tariffs to Canadian products and insisting on discarding the North American Free Trade Agreement and replacing it with a new one. Trump also criticized Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak”, and Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade advisor, once said “there is a special place in hell” for the prime minister.
“We have so much alignment – not just me and President Biden, but the Canadians and President Biden,” Trudeau said at a news conference on Friday. “I am very much looking forward to working with President Biden.”