Trudeau’s ‘colourful’ call with Trump the latest eruption in a rocky relationship

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described his Wednesday phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump as “colourful” and warned Canadians that the trade war is likely to continue, despite Canada and Mexico receiving a temporary tariff reprieve on Thursday.

Trudeau and Trump spoke by phone Wednesday for around 50 minutes. The Wall Street Journal reported the call grew heated and included profanity.

“I have been having conversations and working with Donald for over eight years now,” Trudeau said at an unrelated announcement in Ottawa on Thursday. “A lot of it is rolling with it. A lot of it is figuring out how to move forward constructively, despite certain unpredictabilities that often come in.”

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Trump offered his own version of events on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, saying Wednesday’s call “ended in a ‘somewhat’ friendly manner.” The president has since repeated false claims that Trudeau is using the tariffs to stay in power.

Trudeau is set to step down as prime minister after the Liberals choose a new leader on Sunday. The next federal election will be held sometime between April and October.

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The tone of Trudeau’s exchange with Trump seems very different from the president’s discussion with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday — which resulted in Trump announcing a temporary pause on tariffs for most imports from Mexico.

Trump announced the respite from levies on Mexican goods that fall under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement in a social media post, and thanked Sheinbaum for her “hard work and co-operation.”

Later in the day, Trump signed an executive order pausing tariffs on some Canadian imports and reducing potash levies.

Trudeau has had a rocky relationship with the Republican leader.

Negotiations on CUSMA, the continental trade pact that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement during the first Trump administration, were marked by public spats between Trudeau and the president.

Trump called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest” after the prime minister criticized the president’s 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum at the G7 summit in Quebec.

Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade representative, said in his book that U.S.-Canada relations at the time were “at their lowest ebb since the failed American invasion of Upper Canada during the War of 1812.”

There was another blow-up the following year when Trudeau and other NATO leaders caught on video appeared to be talking about a Trump press conference. Trump called the prime minister “two-faced” at the time.

Since Trump’s political comeback last year, he has repeatedly referred to Trudeau as “governor of Canada.” He has levelled an array of complaints against Canada about everything from trade deficits to defence spending. Trump has said repeatedly he wants to make Canada an American state, prompting Trudeau to say there is not a “snowball’s chance in hell” that would happen.

Trump posted on social media Thursday that Trudeau had done a “terrible job.”

“I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister. So much fun to watch!” he said.

Trudeau said he will not stay on as prime minister to continue negotiations with the U.S. during the federal election, adding it’s up to Canadians to decide how the country should be governed in the coming years.

— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.