Peter Navarro, the White House National Trade Council director, said Sunday there is a “special place in hell” for any leader who engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Trump, slamming Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his remarks on trade.
Navarro was the second U.S. official to aggressively go after Trudeau a day after Trump refused to sign a Group of Seven (G-7) communique with Trudeau and six other western leaders.
U.S. officials on Sunday put the blame for the dispute squarely on Trudeau, suggesting he had double-crossed Trump by saying one thing in private and then criticizing Trump on camera.
“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” Navarro told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
{mosads}”That’s what bad faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did, and that comes right from Air Force One,” he continued.
“To my friends in Canada, that was one of worst political miscalculations of a Canadian leader in modern Canadian history.”
Navarro followed Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow in publicly lashing out at Trudeau, the leader of one of America’s longest-standing allies. Kudlow said Trudeau had stabbed the Trump administration in the back.
Trump himself had severely criticized Trudeau on Saturday, saying the U.S. would not sign the G-7 communique despite the Canadian leader’s previous comments.
“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” the president said in a tweet.
Trudeau pushed back on Trump’s tweet, saying the prime minister had been consistent with Trump during the summit.
“The Prime Minister said nothing he hasn’t said before — both in public, and in private conversations with the President,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The intense fight between the administration and Canada over the G-7 summit has as its backdrop an escalating trade fight between the two countries.
It also comes after Trump called on Russia to be readmitted to the G-7, a suggestion that got a cool reception from Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Democrats accused Trump of treating U.S. allies poorly while looking to foster stronger ties to Russia, which they described as a U.S. foe.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also fired back at Trump.
In a statement to U.S. allies, McCain said “Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t.”