Trump notifies Congress of US trade deal with Mexico and Canada, if it’s willing
WASHINGTON — Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland gave a cold shoulder to U.S. President Donald Trump and cozied up instead to her American trade counterpart Friday as Canada’s effort to re-enter the North American free-trade fold fell short of meeting its end-of-week deadline.
With a pledge to resume talks next week, Freeland spoke of progress, of optimism and of her determination to get a deal that’s good for Canadians — a remarkable show of restraint on a day that began with another blast of now-familiar Trump bombast that landed like an anvil on the negotiating table.
Any deal with Canada would be “totally on our terms,” the Toronto Star quoted Trump as saying in an off-the-record aside during an interview with Bloomberg News.
“If I say no — the answer’s no. If I say no, then you’re going to put that, and it’s going to be so insulting they’re not going to be able to make a deal,” he reportedly said, adding: “I can’t kill these people.”