If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to get on US President-elect Donald Trump’s good side for smooth bilateral relations, he will likely have to show respect openly, says former US official John Bolton. The National Security Adviser said:
“If someone kisses the ring, it’s always possible. So that’s what President Trump likes,” Bolton told CTV Power Play host Vassie Kapelos in an interview airing Wednesday. asked whether he thought there was a chance that President Trump would forge a better relationship than the former president’s first term.
The question came amid concerns stemming from President Trump’s imminent threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico.
Just days after the threat was made in a social media post, Prime Minister Trudeau made a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President Trump, during which Trump said that if the tariffs were to be imposed as Canadian officials warned, If it had such a devastating economic impact, he reportedly joked, The United States should absorb Canada and make it its 51st state.
Trump continued to criticize Canada on social media, posting what appeared to be an AI-generated image of himself holding a large Canadian flag overlooking a mountain range with the caption, “Oh, Canada!” He later referred to Trudeau as “the governor” rather than the prime minister.
Canadian ministers quickly dismissed the joke as just another joke.
Asked whether the president-elect’s comments should be interpreted as a joke, Bolton said, “I think, as people say, ‘Trump is seriously joking.'” “If asked, he would say, ‘Of course I’m kidding, and you know, Justin and I have a very good relationship,’ but I think that’s an indication of how he feels about Trudeau.” ”
“And it’s mean and kind of a playground, but it’s Donald Trump,” Bolton added.
Bolton served as national security adviser to President Trump from 2018 to 2019, during his first term.
“Well, it’s not happy news, but what you have to do is flatter Trump and try to be like that.” He also cited the former Japanese prime minister as the world leader he believes is “the best.” , named Shinzo Abe. Successful response to Trump. ”
Although Abe “wasn’t very keen on flattery,” Bolton continued, “he always spent time with President Trump on the phone, in person, on the golf course, and didn’t leave much time between conversations. It was just to make sure we were getting along.” Touch. “
Bolton, who previously served as ambassador to the United Nations and has held various positions at the U.S. State Department, said tariff repeal is unlikely to progress in negotiations with President Trump.
“The numbers are up and down for President Trump,” he said, adding that the variable targets for the size of the tariffs are “designed to throw people off course.”
“I think a trade war between the United States and Canada and Mexico would be a disastrously bad decision for President Trump, but he doesn’t understand how tariffs work,” Bolton said. “He thinks that export companies pay customs duties.”
“He doesn’t realize that U.S. importers are paying for it and passing that cost on to U.S. consumers,” Bolton added. “Good luck trying to educate him about it.”
The former NSA also discussed defense spending and Canada’s path to meeting NATO’s goal of 2 per cent of GDP.
Prime Minister Trudeau has pledged to meet NATO’s goals by 2032, but most of the alliance has already met or is on track to meet them. Canada was the last ally planning to do so.
Meanwhile, as recently as last week, President Trump was threatening to pull the United States out of the alliance unless all member states paid their agreed-upon contributions.
Asked if Canada’s defense spending could become an even bigger issue if President Trump returns to the Oval Office, Bolton said: “He always beats whoever is prime minister over the head on that. Probably.”
“Defense spending should be no more than 2% of GDP. So it’s really that simple,” he added. “But that’s not enough to satisfy Mr. Trump. That’s the ostensible point.”
Asked if he thought NATO was in trouble, Bolton said yes, adding that he was also concerned about America’s other bilateral relationships, with countries such as Japan and South Korea. Ta.
