Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to hold up a copy of the trade pact he signed with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and President Trump at Friday’s ceremony, despite the latter urging him to do so.
Trudeau appeared to be in a bit of a feisty mood despite the historic nature of the agreement, along with Trump’s insistence that the two have become ‘great friends.’
Aside from being the only one of the three North American leaders to not hold the document up for a photo op, Trudeau referred to the President as simply “Donald” during the meeting, and repeatedly called the USMCA, Trump’s preferred moniker, the ‘new North American Free Trade Agreement’ (NAFTA) instead.
Trudeau refuses to hold up agreement for photo op
Trudeau, despite the President urging each of the world leaders to pose for a photo op, refused to hold up his signed version of the document.
Each of the men signed a copy laid out in front of them, then passed it along to the next to do the same. Upon all three signing, Trump declared, “We might as well hold that up.”
Nieto complied, while Trudeau refused, instead opting to smile for the cameras.
HAPPENING NOW: Pres. Trump, Canadian PM Trudeau and Mexican Pres. Pena Nieto participate in USMCA signing ceremony. https://t.co/0xUvNEWgKR
— ABC News (@ABC) November 30, 2018
Additionally, Trump was caught on a hot mic asking which of the documents “is the one that matters?”
“Each of us get a copy,” Trudeau responded.
Trudeau refers to President Trump as “Donald”
During discussion of the tariffs imposed by President Trump on steel and aluminum, Trudeau addressed the leader of the United States simply as “Donald” and not by his proper salutation.
The Canadian PM referenced GM’s announced layoffs saying, “Donald it’s all the more reason we need to remove the tariffs on steel and aluminum between our two countries.”
Addressing @POTUS as “Donald,” Trudeau says “we need to keep working to remove the tariffs on streel and aluminum between our countries.”
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 30, 2018
Trudeau refers to the new pact as ‘the new NAFTA’
At the signing ceremony, Trudeau also refused to call the pact by it’s official title – the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
He instead called it the “new North American Free Trade Agreement,” a passive-aggressive, petulant complaint to show his preference for the old NAFTA status quo, instead of the better deal demanded by President Trump.
It isn’t a minor snub either, as Trump’s insistence on giving NAFTA a new name was a key to negotiations.
A key non-negotiable U.S. requirement in the NAFTA renegotiations was that the revised agreement not be called NAFTA.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) October 1, 2018
Trudeau’s official Twitter account also referred to the deal as the “new NAFTA” shortly after the ceremony.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signs the new #NAFTA with the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, today in Buenos Aires, Argentina. pic.twitter.com/DdxYUEdzb6
— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) November 30, 2018
President Trump gets the last laugh
Despite the Canadian Prime Minister’s antics, Trump seems to have gotten the last laugh.
The Daily Mail reports that Trump used “his large sharpie pen, dwarfing the regular pen used by his North American counterparts” to sign his copy.
Pres Trump, Pena Nieto & Trudeau signed the new NAFTA deal this morning in Argentina.
It appears Trump used a Sharpie style pen while the others used a regular pen.
Check out the difference in those signatures – bit of a presidential power play? (h/t @alex_mallin for the pics) pic.twitter.com/0LllTThsJ7
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) November 30, 2018
Aside from having the biggest pen with the biggest signature, the trade agreement represents a crowning moment for President Trump who often touts his deal-making abilities.
“This is a model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever,” Trump bragged. “This is an agreement that first and foremost benefits working people, something of great importance to all three of us here today.”
