How Barack Obama quietly, gently delivered same slam on Canadian dairy as Trump
WASHINGTON — In a private meeting inside the White House, the president of the United States groaned about Canadian dairy practices to a visiting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, lamenting that regulatory changes were hurting U.S. exporters.
The president doing the grousing was Barack Obama.
While Donald Trump’s complaint about Canadian milk this week may have been brasher, louder, and certainly more public, it carried a familiar ring to the circle of people who sat in on Trudeau meetings with Obama.
Repeat interventions on this issue from two decidedly different presidents make clear this irritant isn’t new; it isn’t going away easily; and it’s liable to become part of a broader dispute about dairy in upcoming NAFTA negotiations.