White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said President Donald Trump’s meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “was like watching a grand master in chess.”
In recent weeks, Trump unveiled 10% tariffs against Canada that will take effect on July 9 and a 25% tariff on foreign automobiles. Carney and Trump met for the first time Tuesday since taking their respective offices. Miller also attended the meeting and discussed his takeaways on Fox News’s Hannity on Tuesday.
“What I witnessed was like watching a grand master in chess perform. President Trump has opened up a completely new relationship with Canada,” Miller said. “The prime minister of Canada talked about finally contributing their fair share to NATO’s defense. … He talked about achieving fair trade with the United States and acknowledged the prime minister of Canada. Canada acknowledged the need to strike a fair trade deal with the United States, as President Trump has long asked for. He emphasized, the prime minister of Canada, his deployment of troops and guards to the Canadian border at President Trump’s request to keep fentanyl out of the United States of America.”
Trump has floated a requirement that NATO countries spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense to remain in the alliance. Only 23 of the 32 allies met the current 2% benchmark, and another five allies were over 3%.
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Meanwhile, Carney’s main request to Trump was to stop referring to Canada as the 51st state. The prime minister even repeated the request during a press conference that day.
Miller is facing a possible new job offer to replace former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who will now serve as the U.N. Ambassador. Trump has teased Miller as a possible replacement.