Peter Navarro, a trade advisor for President Trump, appeared on Fox News Sunday this week, and he had some controversial things to say about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
For context, this past weekend Trump pulled out of the Group of Seven’s communiqué. Trudeau hosted the G-7 conference, and things were tense between him and Trump: according to CNN, Trudeau promised to retaliate against the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. After that, Trump took to Twitter (as he does) and called Trudeau “dishonest & weak.”
PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
Enter Navarro. On Sunday, he spoke about Trudeau himself and called him a few names himself, like “bad faith Justin Trudeau,” adding that “there’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.”
Peter Navarro calls out Trudeau: “There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump” (via @FoxNewsSunday) pic.twitter.com/FQxsrNRpf2
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) June 11, 2018
Bloomberg also reports that Navarro claims he was trying to “send a signal of strength,” but many felt it went too far.
In perhaps a first for the Trump administration, it actually looks like Navarro agrees his comments went too far. He took the chance at a Wall Street Journal CFO Network event to apologize. “In conveying that message I used language that was inappropriate and basically lost the power of that message,” Navarro said. “I own that, that was my mistake, those were my words.”
People on Twitter still weren’t totally satisfied with this, calling it a “semi-apology” or joking about the harshness of Navarro’s initial words toward Trudeau.
Navarro issues semi-apology to Canada’s PM after “special place in hell” remark… https://t.co/LvWPiulgTu
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) June 12, 2018
I mean, who among us hasn’t mistakenly wished damnation on our closest allies and trading partners on national television? https://t.co/QQI67THasR
— Stewart Prest (@StewartPrest) June 12, 2018
But while Navarro may have apologized, Trump has not. It’s hard to say what this means for US-Canada relations in the future, but this tension implies it won’t be good.