It’s set to be the most acrimonious world summit in years, with President Donald Trump facing off against six other leaders in need of a standard-bearer. If Justin Trudeau is looking for a chance at redemption, this is it.

With the world on the brink of a trade war, the stakes are high for when the Group of Seven meet in Canada with the symbol of postwar collaboration under threat by an aggressive strain of American unilateralism that’s ripped up international agreements and undermined multilateral institutions.

Enter Trudeau, the photogenic prime minister whose brand of “progressive” trade has fallen flat amid foreign flops that wounded his image. In private conversations, some G7 officials express reservations about the 46-year-old. They may have little choice than to embrace him.

As host, he’s in the spotlight to somehow salvage a summit pitting irate Europeans against Trump with Japan’s Shinzo Abe falling in the middle. France and Germany are warning they won’t bow to Trump just to show unity, and the U.S. president has confirmed he will leave early for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
• ‘The old order is over’: It’s Trump against the developed world as a ‘dysfunctional’ G7 frays over tariffs
• ‘Switch to Canadian rye whiskey’: Food fight with U.S. may be a boon for local industries
• Lawrence Solomon: Mad at Trump’s tariffs? They’re a better idea than you think

In the past, Trudeau tried being a Trump whisperer. But his year of diligent appeasement ultimately failed. Tariffs hit Canada, along with everyone else. Trudeau has finally quit playing nice with Trump.

“I expect a very acrimonious summit,” says Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “I expect nothing of substance to be agreed. In fact, I think the best you can hope for is for them to agree to continue talking.”

Trudeau “needs to clearly adopt a different style because he has found out, just like Macron did and just like Abe did, that all this personal chemistry, cozying-up bromance stuff didn’t get them anywhere,” Kirkegaard says.

The star power has faded for Trudeau, the son of a former prime minister. At home, his polling lead has evaporated on the heels of a disastrous trip to India, and he now trails the main opposition party in some polls ahead of an election next fall. Abroad, a French official was at pains to play down the much-talked about bromance between Emmanuel Macron and Trudeau on display at the G7 in Italy a year ago.

If the two men were being endlessly compared to one another last year, comparisons now are not welcome, the official said on condition of anonymity. Macron is focusing on developing his own brand, and a direct channel to Trump.

Macron began his trip to Canada by visiting Trudeau in Ottawa, and emerged with a warning for Trump. “None of us are eternal,” Macron said. He later tweeted: “The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be.”

Trump responded on Twitter after the meeting of the two other leaders, which included a lengthy private dinner: “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” he wrote. “Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

In a follow-up tweet, Trump accused Trudeau of “being so indignant” given that Canada protects its dairy sector with high tariffs. When asked for a response to Trump’s remarks, a senior Canadian official said at a press briefing in Quebec on Thursday said that the countries can manage their differences through discussions.

Trudeau’s occasional boy-scout goofiness also seems out of place in the trade fight. When Prime Minister Theresa May, another close ally, paid him a brief visit in Ottawa last September, U.K. officials were taken aback by what Trudeau’s office suggested the two should do: kayaking, a proposal so decidedly un-British it was immediately dismissed.

There was also a lot of back and forth over a basketball game. May’s people sought repeated assurances Trudeau wouldn’t embarrass the older May by shooting hoops. As it happened, he jumped at the chance to grab a ball.

The G7 leaders will be immersed in nature Friday and Saturday — 90 miles away from the media center — surrounded by La Malbaie’s pristine waterfront and rolling hills. It remains to be seen whether the isolated surroundings will ease or fan tensions further.

Trump’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, was painfully singled out a week ago at a gathering of G7 finance chiefs in the ski-resort town of Whistler. Who knows how Trump, who dislikes criticism, will respond to coming under fire. Kirkegaard noted that “Trump may take it very poorly.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has made it clear Trump isn’t planning to woo the bloc’s leaders. “International multilateral organizations are not going to determine American policy, I think the president’s made that very clear,” Kudlow said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Either way, there is the risk that it ends without the typical negotiated leaders’ consensus communique. Previous summits have issued a chair’s summary instead, which would fall to Trudeau. If the Canadian can find any measure of consensus, that will be considered a success given the low expectations. Trump plans to depart early from the summit, on Saturday morning, leaving a deputy assistant in charge for the day’s remaining sessions.

“The G7 is fundamentally a gathering of the world’s most advanced economies to talk about economic challenges that we have in common,” Trudeau said last week in a Bloomberg Businessweek Debrief interview in Toronto. The key to diplomacy is finding common ground, he said. That incidentally, is also the title of his 2014 autobiography.</s>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's spokesman on Thursday denied Trudeau had "negative interactions" at a 2000 music festival when an editorial resurfaced accusing Trudeau of sexual harassment at the event.

Trudeau's press secretary Matt Pascuzzo said in a statement to BuzzFeed News that Trudeau has always respected women and that he "doesn't think he had any negative interactions" at a music festival in Creston, British Columbia.

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The allegation was first published in an editorial by the Creston Valley Advance in August 2000.

Trudeau was accused of groping one of the publication's reporters, in an editorial that includes a reported apology from Trudeau.

“I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward,” he reportedly said at the time.

Trudeau was a 28-year-old at the time and best known for being the son of former liberal Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

The editorial, which has been resurfaced semi-frequently over the past 18 years, was brought to light most recently by conservative news outlet Breitbart on Thursday.</s>French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear Thursday they would not be intimidated by U.S. President Donald Trump and said the other leaders of G7 nations must not be afraid to reach agreements without the U.S. at their upcoming summit.

Macron and Trudeau made the comments at a joint press conference after private talks to form a united front ahead of the Group of Seven summit that begins Friday.

While both Macron and Trudeau have forged cordial relationships with Trump, they made it clear they would not be intimidated by the U.S. leader -- especially in the face of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Europe, Japan and Mexico.

"The G7 is an opportunity for us to get together and have frank, open discussions among nations who have long been allies and friends," Macron told reporters, with Trudeau at his side.

"There will be subjects on which the (U.S.) president is not totally in sync with the others -- I'm thinking of course of climate change and trade," the French leader said.

"Our common goal is to try to find a text that can be signed by everyone. (...) That said, I agree with what Justin Trudeau has said many times -- the desire to sign a common G7 declaration must not outweigh the need to be mindful of the content," he explained.

"We Europeans and the Japanese are not ready to give up everything to get" Trump's signature, he said, adding that would be a "mistake."

Trudeau heaped scorn on Donald Trump's national security justification for the new metal tariffs.

"It is laughable to say that Canada, France... can represent a threat to America's national security, as we are the best allies that the US has had for a long time," Trudeau said.

He and Macron also noted that the tariffs would hurt American workers.

The leaders will join Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and new Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Quebec for talks on Friday and Saturday.</s>It’s set to be the most acrimonious world summit in years, with President Donald Trump facing off against six other leaders in need of a standard-bearer. If Justin Trudeau is looking for a chance at redemption, this is it.

With the world on the brink of a trade war, the stakes are high for when the Group of Seven meet in Canada with the symbol of postwar collaboration under threat by an aggressive strain of American unilateralism that’s ripped up international agreements and undermined multilateral institutions.

Enter Trudeau, the photogenic prime minister whose brand of “progressive” trade has fallen flat amid foreign flops that wounded his image. In private conversations, some G7 officials express reservations about the 46-year-old. They may have little choice than to embrace him.

As host, he’s in the spotlight to somehow salvage a summit pitting irate Europeans against Trump with Japan’s Shinzo Abe falling in the middle. France and Germany are warning they won’t bow to Trump just to show unity, and the U.S. president has confirmed he will leave early for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
• ‘The old order is over’: It’s Trump against the developed world as a ‘dysfunctional’ G7 frays over tariffs
• ‘Switch to Canadian rye whiskey’: Food fight with U.S. may be a boon for local industries
• Lawrence Solomon: Mad at Trump’s tariffs? They’re a better idea than you think

In the past, Trudeau tried being a Trump whisperer. But his year of diligent appeasement ultimately failed. Tariffs hit Canada, along with everyone else. Trudeau has finally quit playing nice with Trump.

“I expect a very acrimonious summit,” says Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “I expect nothing of substance to be agreed. In fact, I think the best you can hope for is for them to agree to continue talking.”

Trudeau “needs to clearly adopt a different style because he has found out, just like Macron did and just like Abe did, that all this personal chemistry, cozying-up bromance stuff didn’t get them anywhere,” Kirkegaard says.

The star power has faded for Trudeau, the son of a former prime minister. At home, his polling lead has evaporated on the heels of a disastrous trip to India, and he now trails the main opposition party in some polls ahead of an election next fall. Abroad, a French official was at pains to play down the much-talked about bromance between Emmanuel Macron and Trudeau on display at the G7 in Italy a year ago.

If the two men were being endlessly compared to one another last year, comparisons now are not welcome, the official said on condition of anonymity. Macron is focusing on developing his own brand, and a direct channel to Trump.

Macron began his trip to Canada by visiting Trudeau in Ottawa, and emerged with a warning for Trump. “None of us are eternal,” Macron said. He later tweeted: “The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be.”

Trump responded on Twitter after the meeting of the two other leaders, which included a lengthy private dinner: “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” he wrote. “Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

In a follow-up tweet, Trump accused Trudeau of “being so indignant” given that Canada protects its dairy sector with high tariffs. When asked for a response to Trump’s remarks, a senior Canadian official said at a press briefing in Quebec on Thursday said that the countries can manage their differences through discussions.

Trudeau’s occasional boy-scout goofiness also seems out of place in the trade fight. When Prime Minister Theresa May, another close ally, paid him a brief visit in Ottawa last September, U.K. officials were taken aback by what Trudeau’s office suggested the two should do: kayaking, a proposal so decidedly un-British it was immediately dismissed.

There was also a lot of back and forth over a basketball game. May’s people sought repeated assurances Trudeau wouldn’t embarrass the older May by shooting hoops. As it happened, he jumped at the chance to grab a ball.

The G7 leaders will be immersed in nature Friday and Saturday — 90 miles away from the media center — surrounded by La Malbaie’s pristine waterfront and rolling hills. It remains to be seen whether the isolated surroundings will ease or fan tensions further.

Trump’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, was painfully singled out a week ago at a gathering of G7 finance chiefs in the ski-resort town of Whistler. Who knows how Trump, who dislikes criticism, will respond to coming under fire. Kirkegaard noted that “Trump may take it very poorly.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has made it clear Trump isn’t planning to woo the bloc’s leaders. “International multilateral organizations are not going to determine American policy, I think the president’s made that very clear,” Kudlow said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Either way, there is the risk that it ends without the typical negotiated leaders’ consensus communique. Previous summits have issued a chair’s summary instead, which would fall to Trudeau. If the Canadian can find any measure of consensus, that will be considered a success given the low expectations. Trump plans to depart early from the summit, on Saturday morning, leaving a deputy assistant in charge for the day’s remaining sessions.

“The G7 is fundamentally a gathering of the world’s most advanced economies to talk about economic challenges that we have in common,” Trudeau said last week in a Bloomberg Businessweek Debrief interview in Toronto. The key to diplomacy is finding common ground, he said. That incidentally, is also the title of his 2014 autobiography.</s>It's set to be the most acrimonious world summit in years, with President facing off against six other leaders in need of a standard-bearer. If Justin Trudeau is looking for a chance at redemption, this is it.

With the world on the brink of a trade war, the stakes are high for when the Group of Seven meet in Canada with the symbol of postwar collaboration under threat by an aggressive strain of American unilateralism that's ripped up agreements and undermined multilateral institutions.

Enter Trudeau, the photogenic prime minister whose brand of "progressive" trade has fallen flat amid foreign flops that wounded his image. In private conversations, some G-7 officials express reservations about the 46-year-old. They may have little choice than to embrace him.

As host, he's in the spotlight to somehow salvage a summit pitting irate Europeans against Trump with Japan's Shinzo Abe falling in the middle. France and Germany are warning they won't bow to Trump just to show unity, while many wonder if the US President will leave early.

In the past, Trudeau tried being a Trump whisperer. But his year of diligent appeasement ultimately failed. Tariffs hit Canada, along with everyone else. Trudeau has finally quit playing nice with Trump. 

 



"I expect a very acrimonious summit," says Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for Economics in Washington. "I expect nothing of substance to be agreed. In fact, I think the best you can hope for is for them to agree to continue talking."

Trudeau "needs to clearly adopt a different style because he has found out, just like Macron did and just like Abe did, that all this personal chemistry, cozying-up bromance stuff didn't get them anywhere," Kirkegaard says.

The star power has faded for Trudeau, the son of a former prime minister. At home, his polling lead has evaporated on the heels of a disastrous trip to India, and he now trails the main opposition party in some polls ahead of an election next fall. Abroad, a French official was at pains to play down the much-talked-about bromance between and Trudeau on display at the G-7 in Italy a year ago.

If the two men were being endlessly compared to one another last year, comparisons now are not welcome, the official said on condition of anonymity. Macron is focusing on developing his own brand, and a direct channel to Trump.

Macron began his trip to Canada by visiting Trudeau in Ottawa, and emerged with a warning for Trump. "None of us are eternal," Macron said. He later tweeted: "The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be."



ALSO READ: G7 Summit: 'Don't mind being six, if need be', Macron warns Trump on trade

Trump responded on Twitter after the meeting of the two other leaders, which included a lengthy private dinner: "Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the US massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers," he wrote. "Look forward to seeing them tomorrow."

In a follow-up tweet, Trump accused Trudeau of "being so indignant" given that Canada protects its dairy sector with high tariffs. When asked for a response to Trump's remarks, a senior Canadian official said at a press briefing in Quebec on Thursday said that the countries can manage their differences through discussions.

Trudeau's occasional boy-scout goofiness also seems out of place in the trade fight. When Prime Minister Theresa May, another close ally, paid him a brief visit in Ottawa last September, UK officials were taken aback by what Trudeau's office suggested the two should do: kayaking, a proposal so decidedly un-British it was immediately dismissed.

There was also a lot of back and forth over a basketball game. May's people sought repeated assurances Trudeau wouldn't embarrass the older May by shooting hoops. As it happened, he jumped at the chance to grab a ball.

 



ALSO READ: Foreign woes haunt Justin Trudeau at home after debacle in New Delhi

The G-7 leaders will be immersed in nature Friday and Saturday -- 90 miles away from the media centre -- surrounded by La Malbaie's pristine waterfront and rolling hills. It remains to be seen whether the isolated surroundings will ease or fan tensions further.

Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, was painfully singled out a week ago at a gathering of G-7 finance chiefs in the ski-resort town of Whistler. Who knows how Trump, who dislikes criticism, will respond to coming under fire. Kirkegaard noted that "Trump may take it very poorly."

 



White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has made it clear Trump isn't planning to woo the bloc's leaders. " multilateral organisations are not going to determine American policy, I think the President's made that very clear," Kudlow said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Either way, there is the risk that it ends without the typical negotiated leaders' consensus communique. Previous summits have issued a chair's summary instead, which would fall to Trudeau. If the Canadian can find any measure of consensus, that will be considered a success given the low expectations. Trump plans to depart early from the summit, on Saturday morning, leaving a deputy assistant in charge for the day's remaining sessions.

 



ALSO READ: Trump to skip G7 climate sessions over tariff spat with Macron, Trudeau

"The G-7 is fundamentally a gathering of the world’s most advanced economies to talk about economic challenges that we have in common," Trudeau said last week in a Bloomberg Businessweek Debrief interview in Toronto. The key to diplomacy is finding common ground, he said. That incidentally, is also the title of his 2014 autobiography.</s>WASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday of “being so indignant,” as the two leaders prepared for a Group of Seven summit in Quebec on Friday that is likely to center on trade disagreements.

“Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things ... but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!” Trump said on Twitter. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Lisa Lambert)</s>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a self-described feminist who has made combatting sexual harassment and sexual assault a centerpiece of his political image, was accused of groping a young woman reporter at a music festival almost two decades ago. The allegation was first published in an editorial in the Creston Valley Advance, a community newspaper in British Columbia, in August 2000. It has periodically resurfaced online, including in Frank magazine earlier this year. The allegation came to wider attention this week when photos of the editorial were widely shared on social media and received further prominence when Breitbart reported on it on Thursday. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, the prime minister's press secretary, Matt Pascuzzo, said Trudeau has always treated women with respect and that he "doesn't think he had any negative interactions" while in Creston. BuzzFeed News obtained a copy of the newspaper editorial from the archives of the Creston Museum.



In the editorial, Trudeau was accused of "groping" the newspaper's reporter during a music festival sponsored by a beer company. According to the editorial, Trudeau was said to have apologized for inappropriately "handling" the woman after he realized she was a reporter.

 “I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward,” the Advance editorial quotes Trudeau as telling the reporter afterward. Trudeau was 28 years old at the time of the alleged incident. Although he was not then a public figure, he was still famous as the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. "[S]houldn't the son of a former prime minister be aware of the rights and wrongs that go along with public socializing? Didn't he learn, through his vast experiences in public life, that groping a strange young woman isn't in the handbook of proper etiquette, regardless of who she is, what her business is or where they are?" the editorial said.

 BuzzFeed News contacted the woman reporter who covered Trudeau's visit to the festival but did not immediately receive a reply. Efforts to contact the paper's then-editor were not successful.

Trudeau's first major moment in the public spotlight as an adult came just a few months later in October 2000, when he delivered a eulogy at his father's televised state funeral. He subsequently followed his father into politics, becoming active with the Liberal Party of Canada and eventually running for and winning a seat in parliament in 2008. Since becoming prime minister in 2015, Trudeau has championed women's rights and taken a zero-tolerance stance on sexual misconduct, suspending multiple members of his party from caucus after they were accused of sexual harassment. In an interview with CBC News earlier this year, Trudeau was asked whether any women might accuse him of similar behavior. "I don't think so," Trudeau said. "I've been very, very careful all my life to be thoughtful and to be respectful of people's space and people's headspace as well."

 He also said politicians were responsible for their actions, no matter how long ago.

"There is no context in which someone doesn't have responsibility for things they've done in the past," he told CBC News. In the statement to BuzzFeed News on Thursday, Pascuzzo emphasized Trudeau's record on women's rights: As the PM has said before, he has always been very careful to treat everyone with respect. His first experiences with activism were on the issue of sexual assault at McGill, and he knows the importance of being thoughtful and respectful. He remembers being in Creston for the Avalanche Foundation, but doesn’t think he had any negative interactions there.</s>In a recently resurfaced editorial, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau appears to apologize for “inappropriately handling” a young journalist nearly 18 years ago.

According to the Creston Valley Advance, Trudeau told the young woman: “I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I would never have been so forward.”

The editorial, largely dismissive of the apology, chides Trudeau over what the author perceives as a lack of self-awareness as the son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

“[S]houldn’t the son of a former prime minister be aware of the rights and wrongs that go along with public socializing?” the editorial asks.

“Didn’t he learn through his vast experiences in public life, that groping a strange young woman isn’t in the handbook of proper etiquette, regardless of who she is, what her business is or where they are?”

Trudeau, a champion of the #MeToo movement, penned an essay in 2017 urging parents to raise their boys as feminists.

“[O]ur sons have the power and the responsibility to change our culture of sexism,” Trudeau wrote, adding, “Our sons have the power and the responsibility to change our culture of sexism.”

The 43-year-old leader unveiled a federal “gender equity” budget in February to reduce the pay gap between men and women.

Amid tense negotiations with the U.S. on NAFTA and tariffs, Trudeau plans to make gender equality a “top priority” at the G7 leaders’ summit in Quebec this week.</s>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not only been a huge supporter of women empowerment but has also been very open about how women who come forward with sexual abuse allegation must be believed.

After the #MeToo movement turned into a global phenomenon encouraging women in all professions to take a stand against sexual misconduct and expose the magnitude of this problem, the 46-year-old leader of the Liberal Party said he wasn’t worried about such allegations surfacing against him as he had led a very careful life.

“I've been very, very careful all my life to be thoughtful, to be respectful of people's space and people's headspace as well,” he told CBC Radio's “The House” in a January interview.

He also said there is “no context in which someone doesn't have responsibility for things they've done in the past” and blasted the idea of sexual harassment just being “compliments” taken the wrong way.

“These are not just compliments that were taken wrong, or comments that could have meant nothing,” Trudeau said at the time. “There are situations in the cases that we're discussing these days that fundamentally made women unsafe in the work environment, unsure about themselves and truly affected their lives.”

However, a recently surfaced newspaper article from August 2000 claims Trudeau himself may have engaged in such behavior when he was in his late twenties.

According to an editorial published in British Columbia community newspaper Creston Valley Advance, Trudeau, who was not a political figure at the time but was known for being the son of former Prime Minster Pierre Trudeau, groped a young female reporter at Kokanee Summit Music Festival put on by the Columbia Brewery.

The reporter was there to cover an event not only for the Creston Valley Advance but also for the National Post and Vancouver Sun, reported Frank magazine.

According to the editorial, Trudeau later apologized to the woman.

“I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward,” he was quoted as saying.

“Shouldn't the son of a former prime minister be aware of the rights and wrongs that go along with public socializing?” read the article. “Didn't he learn, through his vast experiences in public life, that groping a strange young woman isn't in the handbook of proper etiquette, regardless of who she is, what her business is or where they are?”

Since Trudeau became prime minister in 2015, the allegation has surfaced several times in local newspapers. However, given the ongoing conversation around #MeToo and “Time’s Up” movements, the article has found its way to the social media, where it gained further prominence after right wing website Breitbart News wrote about it.

Meanwhile, Trudeau’s press secretary, Matt Pascuzzo, has since released a statement to the BuzzFeed News.

“As the PM has said before, he has always been very careful to treat everyone with respect. His first experiences with activism were on the issue of sexual assault at McGill, and he knows the importance of being thoughtful and respectful,” he said. “He remembers being in Creston for the Avalanche Foundation, but doesn’t think he had any negative interactions there.”</s>Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has embarked on a furious media campaign in recent days, attacking US President Donald Trump's trade policy in a move that shows a substantial shift in his attitude toward Trump.

Trudeau has released fiery public statements in the days since Trump announced that the US would impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. Trudeau has also appealed directly to US audiences as part of his media blitz.

"Let me be clear: These tariffs are totally unacceptable," Trudeau said at a press conference announcing retaliatory measures.

Trudeau's strong words continued in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," the top-rated US political Sunday show, where he called the tariffs "frankly insulting" during an interview with the host Chuck Todd.

The Trump administration says it imposed the tariffs on national-security grounds, arguing that domestic metals industries need to be protected in the event that a geopolitical issue cuts off access to imported steel and aluminum.

Because the US and Canada are close allies on geopolitical issues, Trudeau took particular offense to the justification.

"The idea that, you know, our soldiers who had fought and died together on the beaches of World War II and the mountains of Afghanistan, and have stood shoulder to shoulder in some of the most difficult places in the world, that are always there for each other, somehow — this is insulting to that," Trudeau said on NBC.

Trudeau also stepped up criticism of the Trump administration on negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

Generally upbeat about the talks to this point, Trudeau pulled back the curtain and expressed frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the negotiations. Trudeau had told reporters Thursday that Trump agreed to a sit-down meeting to hammer out details of a new NAFTA, but Vice President Mike Pence reversed course just a few days later.

Trudeau's frustration while recounting the story was palpable, leaving reporters taken aback.

A White House official said Trudeau's version of events was "simply inaccurate."

Trump's relationship with Trudeau in his first 18 months in office started amicably, with a strong handshake and a relatively cordial first meeting a month after Trump's inauguration.

During that meeting, Trump backed off his strong criticisms of NAFTA expressed during the campaign — he had called it the "worst trade deal in history" — and suggested the US could be willing to merely tweak the deal.

The early meetings seemed to point to Trudeau taking a softer approach to Trump, trying to maintain a strong relationship while gently prodding the president on economic issues.

But trade strained the relationship. In March, audio leaked of Trump bragging during a fundraising dinner about bluffing to Trudeau on trade.

"Trudeau came to see me. He's a good guy, Justin. He said: 'No, no, we have no trade deficit with you. We have none. Donald, please,'" Trump said. "I said, 'Wrong, Justin, you do.' I didn't even know ... I had no idea. I just said, 'You're wrong.'"

NAFTA talks soon hit significant hurdles over a series of US demands. Then the Trump administration kick-started its tariffs.

Given the increased blows from the US, Trudeau appears to have decided to take a different track.

"This is not about the American people. We have to believe that at some point their common sense will prevail," Trudeau said Thursday. "But we see no sign of that in this action today by the US administration."

The Trump administration, for its part, has not taken the blows lying down. In a statement on Thursday, the White House called out Trudeau by name.

"The United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade. Those days are over," the statement said. "Earlier today, this message was conveyed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada: The United States will agree to a fair deal, or there will be no deal at all."
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is accused of groping a journalist in 2000. He denies he made negative interactions.