QUEBEC — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on Parliament Hill today, where they are expected to discuss how to handle U.S. President Donald Trump at the G7 leaders’ summit.
The fallout from Trump’s imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on his G7 partners, as well as broader disagreements on trade and climate change, are setting the stage for some tense face-to-face meetings here Friday after Trump’s arrival at the Quebec summit.
Trump will hold separate bilateral meetings with Trudeau and Macron and he will also face questions on the tariffs at a broader meeting of G7 leaders on the state of the world’s economy that kicks off the summit on Friday.
Macron and Trudeau are presenting a united front ahead of the G7, with the French president tweeting of his country’s “convergence” with Canada on Wednesday.
The White House tried to play down the differences with Trump’s top economic adviser branding the differences as simply a family quarrel.
But Trump took to Twitter earlier today to signal he’s got his elbows up in advance of his Canadian debut in Quebec.
“Getting ready to go to the G-7 in Canada to fight for our country on Trade (we have the worst trade deals ever made),” Trump said on Twitter.