Trump jealous of Trudeau because he's 'younger and way better looking': Scaramucci

If former U.S. president Donald Trump wins back the White House in the upcoming election, Canadian officials can likely expect an even rockier relationship with him than the last time around, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci says.

After a decisive win for Trump at the Republication primaries in Iowa, the race for presidential nominee heads to New Hampshire Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Trudeau is set to gather with members of his cabinet starting Sunday for a three-day agenda-setting retreat ahead of the House of Commons’ return at the end of the month. And one of the top issues they’re set to discuss is Canada-U.S. relations in the face of a possible second term of Trump as president.

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Scaramucci — who briefly served as White House communications director while Trump was in office — told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday, that the former president is “very jealous of Prime Minister Trudeau.”

“He's younger, and way better looking than the president,” Scaramucci said. “And I know the (former) president very well, that superficial sort of stuff really bothers him, so he will be an antagonist to your leadership.”

“And it could be as simple as that, just as a direct result of that,” he added. “And that's one of the reasons why people like me will be working very, very hard in 2024 to make sure that he doesn't re-ascend to the presidency.”

Scaramucci said while he believes Trump will handily secure the Republican nomination after Super Tuesday “barring a Department of Justice intervention or some type of legal snafu,” he does not think he’ll go on to win back the White House.

“But if he's able to navigate all of these (court) cases successfully, and we're sitting here on Election Day, I think it's going to be very close,” he said. “But once again, (current U.S.) President (Joe) Biden will win re-election.”

“He's got three things going for him,” he added. “He's got the incumbency. He's got a reasonably strong economy with declining inflation numbers. And the third thing he's got going for him is he's not Donald Trump.”

Scaramucci also said that in contrast to Trump’s last term — during which Trudeau and his cabinet endeavoured to work closely with the people advising the president — it’s likely the people who sign on to work in the White House during a possible second Trump presidency are limited to “Yosemite Sam,” “Bugs Bunny,” or “Mickey Mouse.”

“I mean, listen, any normal Republican or any rationalist will stay away from working for Donald Trump,” he added.

The former White House communications director said, however, if he had one thing to say to the Canadian federal government if Trump gets re-elected, it’s “you survived it last time, you'll survive at this time.”

“And remember, he can only be president for four more years, he's term limited out.”