'Canada's Obama' arrives in DC: Prime minister Justin Trudeau touches down with his family for lavish state dinner... but it's the high-fives and high jinks of his son Hadrien, 2, that steal the show
Canada's new, liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has arrived in Washington for a three-day visit. Trudeau is accompanied by his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau and three children Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien, 2,. Trudeau will meet Thursday at the White House with President Barack Obama.
Trudeau will meet Thursday at the White House with President Barack Obama. That evening, he will attend a star-studded state dinner, the first for a Canadian leader in nearly 20 years. The last one was for Jean Chretien in 1997.
Upon touching down, he tweeted, in both English and French: 'Great to be in Washington, DC! Looking forward to meeting with @POTUS & strengthening ties between our countries.'
Bonjour! Justin Trudeau, 44, arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in maryland on Wednesday with his wife Sophie and three young children Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien (being carried by his dad)
Meeting the fans: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau helps his son Hadrian greet a group of schoolchildren at Andrews Air Force Base
Bored already Hadrien? The youngest Trudeau appeared to have slight trouble paying attention during all the pomp, with his father having a quiet word with him
Strength in numbers! The three Trudeau children, Xavier, eight, Ella-Grace, seven and Hadrien, a sprightly two, seemed completely unphased by the fanfare surrounding their dad's trip
The 44-year-old Trudeau was elected in October. His father, the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, remains one of the few Canadian politicians widely known in America.
Pierre, who served as prime minister twice from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. In 1969, he famously asked then president Richard Nixon if he could freshen up with a swim in the White House pool, which he followed up with a sauna, shower and massage before the state dinner. He visited again in 1974 for a 'stag dinner' with Gerald Ford. He died in 2000.
His son, the new prime minister, will be looking to strengthen relations that were strained under the previous Canadian government when the Obama administration last year rejected the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Trudeau's father is pictured during a visit to the White House twice in 1969 when he famously asked then president Richard Nixon if he could freshen up with a swim in the White House pool, which he followed up with a sauna, shower and massage before the state dinner
Trudeau's Liberals came to power in November by ousting right-wing Conservative leader Stephen Harper, whose ties with Washington deteriorated as he hectored Obama over the pipeline.
Obama blocked the project last year, a victory for environmentalists who had campaigned against the pipeline. But the spat is in the past, said Susan Rice, the US National Security Adviser
The White House is eager to turn the page on the years-long fight over the crude oil pipeline with and celebrate its close economic and security ties with its northern neighbor, she said.
Rockstar welcome: Trudeau, pictured left walking down the plane steps with his kids, and right on his own, will be looking to build on an already solid relationship between the two countries
The Canadian Obama! Trudeau, 44, has been compared favorably to the US President due to his good looks and optimistic message which harks back to Barack's 2008 campaign
Standing on ceremony: The Trudeaus and their very well-behaved children pause for the National Anthem before heading on to greet the crowds
Rice said: 'In any bilateral relationship, there are going to be issues of difference and occasional friction.
'The complexity and the breadth and the depth of the U.S-Canada relationship is such that no single issue can overshadow the totality of the relationship,' she said.
Obama and Trudeau will discuss the next steps for the 'Beyond the Border' initiative, a plan to speed travel and trade, Rice said.
'With the longest peaceful border and $2 billion a day in trade in both directions, we have an enormous shared stake in a border that is open for business and open for travel - and safe,' Rice said.
Trudeau campaigned to strengthen ties with the United States, but also promised he would pull out six fighter jets from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Rice said the White House is satisfied with steps that Trudeau took to beef up training, surveillance and other support to the coalition.
'Taken as a whole, we view the Canadian stepped-up contribution to the counter-ISIL campaign as being very, very valuable and welcome,' Rice said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
The White House has also watched closely as Trudeau welcomed 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada in four months.
'We've seen thus far that Canada is taking very seriously its responsibility to its own citizens and to our common security to be vigilant as it welcomes these new refugees,' Rice said.
Flashback: President Ronald Reagan, right, and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau stand for photographers in the White House Rose Garden April 29, 1983
Message of hope: Trudeau tweeted this upon touching down in the US, along with the below picture of his young son Hadrien greeting schoolchildren
Power couple: Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, and their children, greet students from Paterson Elementary School in Washington upon disembarking
The real star? Sophie may well be the Michelle to Justin's Barack, with the 40-year-old been dubbed a style icon in her homeland
In a 60 Minutes interview Trudeau granted just before his trip, he said Americans should pay more attention to what's happening in the rest of the world.
'Having a little more of an awareness of what's going on in the rest of the world, I think is, is what many Canadians would hope for Americans,' he said.
His relationship with Obama has already been a keen topic of conversation. The pair have been compared to one another thanks to Trudeau's message of optimism similar to Obama's 2008 message of 'Hope', as well as their charisma and good looks.
Family matters: Trudeau holds his youngest son while Sophie walks with Xavier and Ella-Grace after greeting students from Patterson Elementary school
The duo first met in person in the Philippines on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit back in November.
'The first call I made to him I said, 'Justin, congratulations. You and your family look great. I know Canadians are incredibly inspired by your message of hope and change',' Obama said, according to The Hill.
'I just want to point out that I had no gray hair when I was in your shoes seven years ago. And so if you don't want to gray like me, you need to start dying it soon, because it gets too late.'
Despite his relatively short time in office, he has already made some bold moves on the foreign stage. In November, he unveiled a pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015. In contrast, the US plans to take in just 10,000 over the next year, an announcement Donald Trump has capitalized on in the Presidential election race.
Trudeau's father Pierre-Elliot Trudeau is pictured speaking with then President Jimmy Carter on his visit to the White House in 1977. Pierre served as prime minister twice from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984
U.S. President Richard Nixon had sour words in private about Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Pictured in 1983
Preparations: White House Chief Floral Designer Hedieh Ghaffarian talks about the table settings for the state dinner honoring Trudeau, the first state dinner for a Canadian PM for 19 years
Pomp: The White House chose the colors, flowers and menu with 'an ambiance that reflects the scenic beauty of our shared border and celebrates the coming of spring
But if Trudeau is seen as the Obama of Canadian politics, his glamorous other half is the Michelle. A style icon, the 40-year-old has already sparked what has been dubbed the 'Sophie effect', similar to Kate Middleton in the UK, according to CBC. A Sentaler coat she wore on Remembrance Day for example, helped spark interest in the brand across the whole of Canada, according to Bojana Sentaler, the creative director of the Toronto-based brand.
Meanwhile preparations for the state dinner were underway. This will be the 11th state dinner of Obama's tenure, the first of this year. His first was in 2009 for Manmohan Singh of India. Others include Felipe Calderon of Mexico in 2010, China's Hu Jintao and Germany's Angela Merkel in 2011; David Cameron, the British prime minsiter in 2012, Francois Hollande of France in 2014, and two last year - firstly Shinzo Abe of Japan in April and Xi Jinping of China in September.
Courtesy: Mail
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