Trudeau will have to 'kiss the ring' to achieve smoother bilateral relations with Trump: John Bolton

If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to get on U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s good side for the sake of a smooth bilateral relationship, he’ll likely have to be openly deferential, says former U.S. National Security Advisor, John Bolton.

“It's always possible, if somebody kisses the ring. I mean, that's what Trump likes,” Bolton told CTV Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Wednesday, when asked if he thinks it’s possible for Trudeau and Trump to forge a better relationship than during the former president’s first term.

The questions come amid concerns stemming from Trump’s looming threat of 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico.

• Top headlines on Canadian politics, all in one place

Just days after that threat was levied in a social media post, Trudeau made a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, during which Trump reportedly joked that if the tariffs have the devastating economic consequences Canadian officials are warning of, perhaps the U.S. should absorb Canada to make it the 51st state.

Trump has since made other jabs at Canada on social media, namely posting what appears to be an AI-generated image of himself with a large Canadian flag, overlooking a mountain range, with the caption “Oh Canada!” And later, he referred to Trudeau as “Governor,” as opposed to prime minister.

Canadian cabinet ministers were quick to dismiss the quips as simple jokes.

“I think, as the saying goes, ‘Trump is kidding on the straight,’” Bolton said, when asked whether the incoming president’s comments should be interpreted in jest or not. “If asked, he'd say, ‘of course, it's a joke, and, you know, Justin and I have a very good relationship,’ but I think it's an indication of what he thinks of Trudeau.”

“And it's mean, it's sort of a playground kind of thing, but that's Donald Trump,” Bolton added.

Bolton served as National Security Advisor from 2018-2019, during Trump’s first term as president.

“Well, it's not pleasant news, but the thing to do is flatter Trump and try and work on in that way,” he also said, pointing to former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, as the world leader who he believes was “most successful at dealing with Trump.”

While Abe “didn’t really lather on the flattery,” Bolton continued, “he spent time with Trump constantly on the phone, in person, on the golf course, never letting much time go by between conversations, just making sure they were in touch.”

Bolton — who also formerly served as ambassador to the United Nations, and with the U.S. Department of State in various roles — said pushing back on tariffs likely won’t make headway with Trump.

“For Trump, numbers kind of come and go,” he said, adding a moving target of how large the tariffs will be is “designed to throw people off their stride.”

“I think a trade war between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico would be a catastrophically bad decision on Trump's part, but he doesn't understand how tariffs work,” Bolton said. “He thinks that the exporting company pays the tariff.”

“He doesn't realize it's the American importer that pays it and then passes the cost on to American consumers,” Bolton added. “So good luck with trying to educate him on that.”

The former NSA also discussed defence spending, and Canada’s path to meet NATO’s target of two per cent of GDP.

Trudeau has pledged to meet the NATO target by 2032. But the majority of the alliance has already met or is on track to meet the target. Canada was the last ally to lay out a plan to do so.

Trump, meanwhile, has threatened, as recently as last week, to pull the U.S. out of the alliance if all member states don’t pay their agreed-upon share.

“I think he'll beat whoever is prime minister over the head with it constantly,” Bolton said, when asked whether Canada’s defence spending could become a larger problem once Trump is back in the Oval Office.

“You should get defence spending up to two per cent of GDP. I mean, it really is that simple,” he added. “But that's not enough to satisfy Trump. That's the ostensible point.”

When asked whether he believes NATO is in trouble, Bolton said he does, adding he’s also concerned for other U.S. bilateral relations, namely with countries like Japan and South Korea.