W.H. Adviser Peter Navarro Says There’s ‘A Special Place in Hell’ For Justin Trudeau For Angering Trump
White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro continued the recent criticism of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” CNN reports.
Navarro uttered those strong words to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, and termed the Prime Minister “weak” and “dishonest” because of what he says Trudeau pulled during a press conference stunt that happened after President Trump left the summit.
When asked if the statements came from the president, Navarro said that the words were his own, but “they reflected the sentiment that was on Air Force One.”
The rebuking by Navarro happened right after Justin Trudeau commented during the news conference that Canada would “impose retaliatory measures to answer Trump’s tariffs and warned that Canada would not be pushed around.” Trudeau also said that he would always safeguard Canada’s workers and act in their best interests.
Recent criticism of the Canadian Prime Minister by President Trump happened the day before Peter Navarro spoke out. Directly after hearing Trudeau’s statement at the news conference, Trump lashed out on Twitter, calling the PM’s actions during the G7 summit “meek” and “mild.”
He additionally wrote that the statements Trudeau gave at the news conference after he left the summit were very “dishonest” and “weak.”
PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
Politico reports that Peter Navarro also made a statements after the summit.
“To my friends in Canada, that was one of the worst political miscalculations of the Canadian leader in modern Canadian history. All Justin Trudeau had to do was take the win.”
Later, Trump declined endorsing the G7 communique.
Another WH condemnation of Justin Trudeau came from Larry Kudlow, the president’s top economic adviser. He ratcheted up the criticism, telling CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning that the Canadian prime minister’s comments constituted “betrayal.” He added that the Trudeau was even undermining the efforts of the United States and its allies.
One source of contention at the heart of the discussion at the summit was the steep metal tariffs that the U.S. will be imposing on two of the country’s largest trading partners: Canada and Mexico. The motion is causing trade tensions to escalate in Canada and Mexico, even though Trump allowed for temporary exemptions from the tariffs for both countries.
Canadian officials previously made a statement in May that Canada would retaliate by enacting $12.8 billion in tariffs on U.S. exports, effective on July 1 (Canada Day). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at that time that he wanted to be clear that the U.S. tariffs were not acceptable, according to CNN Money.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland called the metal tariffs “illegal and unjustified.”
“The national security pretext is absurd and frankly insulting to Canadians, the closest and strongest ally the United States has had. We can’t pose a security threat to the United States, and I know that Americans understand that. So, that is where the insult lies.”
The president fired back on Twitter, writing that Canada already charges a 270 percent tariff on dairy products. President Trump told the group of seven leaders during the summit that the U.S. wanted a quick end to trade practices, and that the country would no longer be a “piggy bank” for the world to rob.
Canada charges the U.S. a 270% tariff on Dairy Products! They didn’t tell you that, did they? Not fair to our farmers!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2018
No real headway was made at the G7 summit in this matter, and uncertainty and frustration still abounds in related negotiations between the U.S. and Canada. According to the New York Times, the United States’ allies have also said that they will challenge the legal statute related to national security that the Trump administration used to roll out the tariffs.