It doesn’t seem like he’s been president very long, but President Donald Trump showed he’s not above leveraging his relationship with the leader of Canada to score some political points in the United States.
A Buffalo News story on this “outstanding day” — a visit with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Christmas shopping — described how Trump invited Trudeau’s wife to stop by Mar-a-Lago on Thursday to shop with the Trudeaus.
The visit was the “perfect Santa’s little helper,” according to Maggie Schmitt, of the Buffalo News.
Trudeau, of course, did not go to Mar-a-Lago but Trump took great pains to do just that. Trudeau and Trump visited Niagara Falls Thursday afternoon, shaking hands as they looked down at the water. Trudeau, wearing a blue jacket, had on a shirt from Ralph Lauren that featured the American and Canadian flags. Trump wore his red-white-and-blue sweater, with the United States flag on his lapel.
Trump also made his way out to the tarmac outside Mar-a-Lago, wearing a red baseball cap that read “PRESIDENT” across the front.
All of this, a White House official said, was done to show the Trudeaus “how much they meant to America.”
Trump’s first-ever holiday-related tweet, released on the eve of the Trudeaus’ visit, shows that Trump even understands how this works in Canada.
Trudeau offered an all-star group of Canadian performers for the barbershop quartet-style Thanksgiving Day performance at Mar-a-Lago, including Michael Buble, Carly Rae Jepsen, the four and a half man, Corinne Bailey Rae, David Foster, Russell Peters, Carly Rae Jepsen, Miranda Lambert, Josh Groban, The Weeknd, Alanis Morissette, Alanis Morissette, Meghan Trainor, Jana Kramer, Greystone Manor, Elton John, and Michael Buble.
This was all to impress the likes of Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and one of their mutual friends, an architect named Simon van Wyck, the White House aide said. It’s unclear what, if anything, Trump actually bought. Maybe he just noticed the Trudeau shirts.
Not long after those gifts were being shown to the Trudeaus, another Twitter user posted that Trump had thrown a “Christmas party at Mar-a-Lago” for nearly 100 political allies and supporters on Christmas Eve. He named some of them.
Is anybody out there wearing the Christmas sweater? And where’s the note from Trump thanking them for supporting him?
That sweater? And Trump’s gift? Looks like Christmas was very good to them.