Trudeau congratulates Trump on 'decisive' victory | CBC News

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2024 8:51 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement early Wednesday morning congratulating Donald Trump on winning back the U.S. presidency.

"Canada and the U.S. have the world's most successful partnership. We are neighbours and friends, united by a shared history, common values and steadfast ties between our peoples. We are also each other's largest trade partners and our economies are deeply intertwined," Trudeau said.

"We look forward to working with president-elect Trump and his administration, including on issues such as trade, investment, and continental peace and security," he said.

Speaking later to reporters on Parliament Hill, Trudeau said Trump won a "decisive" victory in Tuesday's presidential election and its incumbent on Canada to find common ground with the incoming president to "strengthen North American economic opportunities for the middle class" and "protect North America from the many, many challenges that exist around the world."

WATCH | Trudeau congratulates Trump on 'decisive' victory

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he looks forward to working with President Trump again, adding that the world is more difficult and complicated than it was four years ago and 'there's lots of work to do.'

Trump is on pace to easily win the popular vote and sweep all of the so-called battleground states where the race was expected to be close. That gives him a mandate to push ahead with an agenda that's heavy on protectionist policies, which could have some reverberations for long-time allies, such as Canada.

Trump has promised to slap tariffs on all imports, which experts have said would shave billions of dollars off Canada's GDP.

Kelly Craft, Trump's former ambassador to Canada, has said the country should prepare for what could be a more antagonistic bilateral relationship with the U.S. in her old boss's second term.

Trump's focus on building up American manufacturing and making NATO allies spend more on defence means Canada would need to make some policy changes to stay in America's good graces, Craft said.

"Canada, they need to buckle up," she said before Trump's win. "The whole world needs to buckle up because President Trump will continue his policies from 2016. We are going to make America great again and we will be bringing it back to where it was under the Trump presidency."

Poilievre says: 'Save our jobs' 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also congratulated Trump, saying "the U.S. is Canada's best friend and biggest trading partner, and I will work with the president to benefit both countries."

Acknowledging there may be some economic uncertainty on the horizon, Poilievre said that his "mission" is to "save our jobs."

He said the federal Liberal government has to pivot on some of its policies now that Trump is poised to upend the status quo.

"Yesterday's result confirms we must cancel Trudeau's plan to quadruple the carbon tax and hike other taxes, which would push hundreds of thousands more jobs south where President Trump will be cutting taxes further. We must axe taxes," he said. "Save our jobs. Stand up for Canada."

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Trump and Trudeau have had a fractious relationship.

While Trudeau and his government successfully renegotiated NAFTA and saved Canada's most important trade agreement from ruin, it was a battle to get signatures on the dotted line.

Trump called Trudeau "two-faced" after the prime minister was heard on a hot mic mocking Trump's long-winded news conference following a NATO meeting.

After Trudeau said Canada would not be pushed around by Trump and would vigorously defend the country's interests in the face of U.S. tariffs, Trump blasted the prime minister on social media, calling him "very dishonest & weak," and torpedoed the leaders' communique after the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Que.

John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, relayed in his book how Trump didn't like Trudeau and told his aides to attack the prime minister on the U.S. Sunday morning political shows.

Later, after losing the presidency, Trump aligned himself with the anti-mandate protesters who staged the trucker convoy that shut down much of downtown Ottawa.

"The Freedom Convoy is peacefully protesting the harsh policies of far left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates," Trump said in a statement.

Trudeau, while more diplomatic in his criticisms of Trump, has indicated he's no fan of the former president.

Speaking to reporters in January, Trudeau said Trump "represents a certain amount of unpredictability."

WATCH | 'Canada will be absolutely fine,' Freeland says following Trump U.S. election win: [MEDIA]

'Canada will be absolutely fine': Freeland

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who helped lead Canada's past NAFTA renegotiation efforts, said Wednesday Trump's victory "is a moment of great change for the world."

"We have to be candid about that," Freeland said.

But she said Canada is well prepared to meet the moment.

"I know that a lot of Canadians are anxious, a lot of Canadians have been anxious this week, throughout the night, I want to say with utter certainty and conviction to Canadians that Canada will be absolutely fine," she said.

"We have a strong relationship with the United States; we have a strong relationship with President Trump and his team. Let's remember that our trading relationship today is governed by the trade deal concluded by President Trump himself."