CANADA/FOREIGN DIGNITARIES/G20/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “He has called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada ‘very dishonest and weak.’ He has also, perhaps jokingly, accused Canada — which came into formal being in 1867 — of burning down the White House during the War of 1812. But on Friday [11-30-18] morning, President Trump, Mr. Trudeau and Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, signed a North American trade pact after 14 months of acrimonious negotiations. The leaders of the United States and Canada appeared cordial — Mr. Trudeau even addressed his counterpart as ‘Donald’ — even though their words and body language in recent months have suggested that their once-warm rapport had become as icy as a Canadian winter. Speaking at the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires, with Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Peña Nieto on either side of him, Mr. Trump acknowledged that the road to a deal had been difficult.”
–Dan Bilefsky, “Trade Pact Is Signed at G-20, but Rift Remains for Trump and Trudeau,” The New York Times online, November 30, 2018