‘Two-faced’ Trudeau: Trump fires back after video shows PM talking candidly about U.S. president

LONDON – Donald Trump says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “two-faced.”

The U.S. president was asked about an exchange that was caught on camera at a reception at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night between Trudeau and other world leaders.

Trump said on Wednesday he believes Trudeau was upset that he broached the fact that Canada falls short of the NATO target of spending two per cent of its GDP on defence.

“And honestly, with Trudeau, he’s a nice guy — I find him to be a very nice guy, but the truth is that I called him out on the fact that he’s not paying two per cent, and I guess he’s not very happy about it,” he told reporters.

A more complete Trump quote on @JustinTrudeau video. "He's two-faced, and honestly with Trudeau he's a nice guy. I find him to be a very nice guy." @realDonaldTrump went on to say Trudeau wasn't happy about him calling Canada out for not paying enough on defence spending.

— Kenny Mason (@krmason7) December 4, 2019

“I mean, you were there, a couple of you were there, and he’s not paying two per cent and he should be paying two per cent. It’s Canada, they have money, and they should be paying two per cent. So I called him out on that, and I’m sure he wasn’t happy about it, but that’s the way it is.”

In the recorded footage, the prime minister, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked about why Macron was late for the reception.

Trudeau apparently blamed Trump for holding lengthy news conferences at the start of bilateral meetings.

“He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top,” Trudeau could be heard saying. The leaders don’t use Trump’s name, but the U.S. president took dozens of questions from journalists on Tuesday during impromptu news conferences at the start of his individual meetings with Macron, Trudeau, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Not quite an apology

Meantime, in his closing NATO remarks on Wednesday, Trudeau addressed the controversy — but it wasn’t an apology.

“Last night I made a reference to the fact that there was an unscheduled press conference before my meeting with President Trump, and I was happy to take part of it, but it was certainly notable,” he said.

In response to what the prime minister was referring to when he told Macron and Johnson that he saw Trump’s team’s “jaws drop to the floor,” Trudeau said “we were all surprised and I think pleased to learn that the next G7 will be at Camp David.”

Calling that an “unscheduled announcement,” Trudeau added “I think everyone’s team, every different leader has teams who, every now and then, have their jaws drop at unscheduled surprises, like that video itself, for example.”

He would not directly answer if he offered Trump an apology when the pair met briefly on Wednesday morning, only saying the two had a “great meeting” on Tuesday.

“We talked about the things that really matter to Canadians, whether it’s how we’ve been moving forward on NATO, whether the progress being made on NAFTA is going to continue — which we’re confident it will,” Trudeau answered. “We talked about the challenges of China, and we also talked about a few things.”

Johnson pleaded ignorance about the tape. Trump has cancelled his post-NATO summit news conference.