Day after Trump win in Iowa, Trudeau says U.S. faces choice between optimism, retreat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says voters in the United States will face a choice later this year between optimism for the future and nostalgia for a past that never existed.

Trudeau made the comments in Montreal on Tuesday to a business crowd in reference to Donald Trump’s victory Monday in the Iowa Republican caucuses, which gives the former president an early lead for the Republican nomination ahead of the November election.

The prime minister said a second Trump presidency would be difficult for the Canadian government, as there are many issues on which he and the former president disagree.

On Monday, a majority of Iowa Republican supporters said they back Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

Though he didn’t mention Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre by name, Trudeau said Canadians will face a similar choice to American voters when they head to the polls.

Trudeau cast himself as a defender of optimism and stability, saying voters will have to chose between his approach or anger and fear.

Speaking to Radio-Canada’s Première heure à Québec on Tuesday, Poilievre said he had no opinion on the U.S. election.

“I’m going to work with whoever is president of the United States,” he told host Alex Boissonneault in French.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s [current U.S. President Joe] Biden, Mr. Trump or whoever else. I’m going to advance the interests of our economy and our security.”

Trudeau is set to hold a cabinet retreat before the House of Commons returns later this month. A press release announcing the retreat on Tuesday said “Canada’s relationship with the United States ahead of this fall’s presidential election” would be a topic of discussion when Trudeau meets with his ministers.