As a growing number of Democrats call for U.S. President Joe Biden to not seek reelection, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Thursday that NATO and the G7 are “fortunate” to have Biden in charge “at a pivotal time.”
Biden, 81, has faced growing criticism over his performance in the June 27 debate with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, 78. Both men are the oldest candidates ever to run for president.
Several Democratic lawmakers have urged Biden to reconsider his chances of running for reelection, with Hollywood actor George Clooney joining the group in now calling on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
Asked by reporters if Biden could lead on the world stage, Trudeau said, “As always, it will be an honour and a pleasure to work with Joe Biden.” [Biden] About the big issues.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about U.S. President Joe Biden’s mental acuity during the NATO summit as questions swirl about whether he can win reelection against President Donald Trump.
“[Biden’s] “His depth of experience, his thoughtfulness and his fortitude on the greatest issues and challenges of our time will be a credit to the work we are doing together,” Trudeau added.
In an interview with ABC News after the debate, Biden acknowledged it had been a “bad night” for him, but has strongly resisted calls for him to withdraw from the race.
At a highly anticipated news conference on Thursday, Biden reiterated his determination to continue his campaign, telling reporters he beat Trump once and “I’m going to win again.”
“I’m just going to keep moving forward,” Biden said. “There’s still work to be done.”
Careful comments on US politics
Trudeau and the Liberal party have refrained from commenting on the election, which could pose risks to relations with Canada, its largest trading partner and most important ally.
When Trump announced his intention to run again in November, Canadian officials told CBC News they would not be commenting.
Trudeau criticized Trump in a December 2023 interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton, saying he had “concerns” about the future of climate change action if Trump returns to the White House.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a year-end interview with CBC’s chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that President Donald Trump’s reelection could “worryingly” slow progress on global climate action.
But Trudeau also noted that every new U.S. administration brings challenges for Canada.
Regarding NATO, which was the backdrop for Trudeau’s remarks, President Trump has already threatened to cut off defense cooperation if NATO countries do not meet their commitment to allocate at least 2% of their GDP to defense.
On Thursday, after a flurry of criticism from allies, Trudeau said Canada wants to meet that commitment by 2032.
Elbridge Colby, a former senior defence strategist in the Trump administration, told CBC News that “there needs to be some sort of penalty” for allies that don’t meet the two per cent threshold.
Colby suggested those penalties could include banning Canada from international conferences as well as economic measures such as tariffs.
Trudeau did not specify how his Liberal government would meet its spending commitments, but both the defence and foreign affairs ministers suggested that uncosted, unapproved elements of the new defence policy could push Canada’s spending into the 2 per cent range or even above.
Canada’s next defence review is scheduled for 2028.
