White House blasts Trudeau over G7 statements

Two senior White House officials on Sunday blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his earlier statements during the just concluded Group of Seven (G7) summit.

Trudeau announced on Saturday that all G7 members had endorsed the joint communique; however, he noted that the US tariffs are "insulting" and Canada "will not be pushed around".

The remarks have enraged US President Donald Trump. He tweeted hours later that he had instructed US representatives not to endorse the G7 joint communique "based on Justin's false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies".

Saying Trudeau is "dishonest and weak," he also threatened "tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!" Xinhua reported.

Also in response, Larry Kudlow, Director of the White House's National Economic Council, said on Sunday in an interview with CNN that Trudeau betrayed Trump with "polarizing" statements on US trade policy.

He added that Trudeau's statement risked making Trump look weak before his meeting with North Korea's top leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

"He really kind of stabbed us in the back," he said, adding Trump "is not going to let a Canadian prime minister push him around on the eve of this... He is not going to permit any show of weakness on the trip to negotiate with North Korea."

Saying Trudeau's statements are "amateurish" and "sophomoric" only "for domestic consumption," Kudlow said it was Trudeau's remarks that had prompted Trump to pull out of the joint communique.

Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro also lashed out on Sunday at Trudeau's statements, saying they represent "bad faith."

"There is a special place in hell for any for leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door and that's what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference, that's what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did," Navarro told "Fox News Sunday".

Trump "did the courtesy to Justin Trudeau to travel up to Quebec for that summit. He had other things, bigger things, on his plate in Singapore. ... He did him a favour and he was even willing to sign that socialist communique. And what did Trudeau do as soon as the plane took off from Canadian airspace? Trudeau stuck our president in the back. That will not stand," he noted.

Trump's decision to withdraw his support for the communique has drawn sharp criticism from Germany on Sunday.

Last week, Canada hit back at Trump administration by announcing retaliatory tariffs on up to $12.8 billion worth of US steel and aluminum as well as a diverse list of other products. Those countermeasures are set to take effect on July 1.

G7 includes the seven leading industrialized countries of Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

--IANS

qd