Trudeau says call with Trump over trade war was 'colourful'

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OTTAWA — It was a “colourful call.”

More details are emerging from the contentious Wednesday phone call between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump — one the Wall Street Journal reported as being “heated and included profanity.”

Speaking at a child-care press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Trudeau refused to provide a blow-by-blow summary, but told reporters the conversation with a spirited one.

“I can confirm it was a colourful call,” Trudeau said with a smirk.

“It was also a very substantive call. We talked about a range of issues, of course primarily the trade war they’ve chose to unjustly launch on Canada, but there was also recognizing that our two countries are deeply interwoven — not just in our economy but our people-to-people ties and our history — and we should be able to continue to do big things together, as we have over many years in the past.”

Trudeau declined to get into details, but said dealing with the U.S. president’s unique and unpredictable eccentricities is part of the job.

“I’ve been having conversations and working with Donald for over eight years now, and a lot of it is rolling with it, figuring out how to move forward constructively despite certain unpredictabilities that often come in, and remembering to stay steady no matter what,” he said.

“That is the approach I’ve always taken.”

During the phone call, Trudeau said he reiterated the facts — Canada’s border is secure, and is the source of less than 1% of illicit fentanyl entering the United States.

“Even so, we took action with our $1.3-billion plan to strengthen our border,” he said.

“I also stressed that the tariffs the U.S. administration chose to impose will hurt American workers and businesses, and as our shared history as proven, we should work together instead to tackle today’s challenges rather than fight one another.”

Canada’s goal, he said, is to ensure the end of all punitive tariffs.

Trudeau also stressed the government would be with Canadians “for the tough time ahead,” but as reported Wednesday in the Toronto Sun, that doesn’t appear to include cutting the April 1 hike to Canada’s contentious carbon tax.

Both the PMO and finance minister ignored the Sun’s inquiries on that topic.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com

X: @bryanpassifiume