US President Donald Trump welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House in Washington DC on Thursday, where they discussed ongoing the trade negotiations between their respective countries and Mexico as well.
Trudeau thanked Trump for the opportunity to meet, and said that they’ve “worked hard to build a great trade deal that’s good for Canadian workers, good for American workers, good for Mexican workers,” adding that they were “moving forward on the ratification process.”
Trump then described the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trade deal set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as the “largest trade deal by far ever entered into,” and added that they were close to having it finalized.
“It means a lot of jobs for our country, a lot of wealth for all three countries and we’re really competing against the world,” Trump added. Mexico already ratified the deal earlier this week.
When Trump was asked by a reporter if he would help Trudeau speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the upcoming G20 meeting to speak about Canadians detained in China, Trump responded by saying “I’ll represent them well, I will tell you… anything I can do to help Canada I will be doing.”
Following Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, China then detained two former diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian consultant Michael Spavor, who remain in custody in China.