Reuters/Carlos Barria
Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau at the White House in February 2017.
- Leaked audio of a fundraising speech recorded Donald Trump recounting a conversation with Justin Trudeau.
- He described contradicting Trudeau's claims the about a trade deficit despite not knowing the facts.
President Donald Trump has always prided himself on his skills as a dealmaker, and reportedly bragged on Wednesday about making up facts in order to get the better of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in NAFTA talks.
In audio obtained by the Washington Post of a fundraising speech made by Trump, the president portrayed Trudeau as trying to convince him the US had no trade deficit with Canada, which Trump refused to accept despite having no idea whether it was true.
"Trudeau came to see me. He's a good guy, Justin. He said, 'No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,'" said Trump while mimicking Trudeau, according to the Post.
Trump continued:
"I said, 'Wrong, Justin, you do.' I didn't even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, 'You're wrong.' You know why? Because we're so stupid. … And I thought they were smart. I said, 'You're wrong, Justin.' He said, 'Nope, we have no trade deficit.' I said, 'Well, in that case, I feel differently,' I said, 'but I don't believe it.' I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, 'Check, because I can't believe it.'"
Trump then said, according to the Post's reporting on the audio, that his aide returned and reported that the US had a $17 billion trade deficit with Canada when energy and timber sales were factored in.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative maintains the US has a trade surplus with Canada, the US's biggest trading partner that does more than $300 billion in bilateral business annually.
The NAFTA talks come as Trump has embarked on a massive campaign to restructure US trade globally with protectionist practices that include heavy tariffs on foreign imports. Canada and Mexico scored considerable wins when Trump decided to exempt them from the latest round of tariffs.