CANADA/NAFTA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Two world leaders couldn’t be further apart in ideology but closer in geography, but after months of tension over NAFTA negotiations, President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could finally be making up. Several sources familiar with a Monday [10-1-18] call between the two leaders described the president dominating the conversation with an almost uninterrupted burst of enthusiasm, speaking for the vast majority of the 15-minute call about how amazing, how perfect things would be now. ‘It was extremely positive,’ said one Canadian official, even as other witnesses described the prime minister struggling to squeeze some words in, amid the president’s extended peace declaration. An intense month: Interviews with five officials directly involved in the trade talks paint a picture of a final month of talks marked with frustration from U.S. officials over Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland’s mounting demands. One notable blowup came weeks ago when the U.S. team was convinced it was two short items away from a deal.”
–Adam Behsudi, “Trump and Trudeau call a cease-fire,” Politico, October 4, 2018 10:00 am