U.S. President Donald Trump has launched his latest salvo at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the pair’s disagreement over tariffs and trade policy intensify.
Trump first tweeted Thursday evening that he wants to remind Trudeau — and French President Emmanuel Macron — that Canada and France have been charging the U.S. “massive tariffs,” adding that Canada’s trade policies have been hurting American farmers.
WATCH: Trump takes shots at Canada ahead of G7 summit
He concluded his tweet by saying he was “looking forward” to seeing Trudeau and Macron at the G7 Summit, which takes place Friday and Saturday in Quebec City.
Trump then used even stronger language in another tweet a couple of hours later, accusing Trudeau of being “indignant” in bringing up longstanding U.S.-Canada ties whilst ignoring Canadian dairy tariffs that are “hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!”
Trump’s tweets come ahead of his arrival at the G7 Summit in Quebec on Friday, where both Trudeau and Macron are expected to push him to reconsider his imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on his G7 partners.
It also comes hours after Trudeau said that it is “inconceivable and quite frankly insulting” that the Trump administration would invoke national security in justifying the tariffs.
READ MORE: Trudeau dismisses Trump quip about Canadians burning down the White House
Trudeau told Global National anchor Dawna Friesen on Wednesday that he deals with Trump’s unpredictability and propensity to tweet his thoughts by doing his part to maintain “a constructive, productive relationship… that is based on not insulting each other and not disrespecting” each other.
“As one knows, this is a U.S. administration that prides itself on its unpredictability and because of that, we have had alternatives and plan B, Cs and Ds all over the place to be able to move depending on what happens,” Trudeau said on Global National.
“We’ve seen with some of [Trump’s] tweets, responses like, ‘Oh you know, Canada’s always taking advantage of us.’ Well, Canada stands up for itself and we will continue to, and that’s something that he understands.”
Trudeau added that the relationship between Canada and the U.S. “is unlike the relationship between any two countries in the world,” and that Canada will make sure that trade disputes don’t get in the way of that.
WATCH: ‘In what universe is Canada… somehow become a national security threat’ to U.S.
Trump is expected to hold separate bilateral meetings with Trudeau and Macron, who have presented a united front ahead of the G7, with the French president tweeting of his country’s “convergence” with Canada on Wednesday.
WATCH: Trudeau, Macron plan to charm Trump at G7 with politeness
Trudeau said on Global National that he was prepared to have “very, very frank conversations” with Trump at the G7 meeting.
“I think there is going to be a certain wondering of why exactly and where exactly the president wants to go with that and the G7 context is one in which we can be fairly direct on this.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
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