U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau are clearly friendly in each other’s company, making small talk amid the grandeur of the official state welcome.
Obama even teased the Canadian about hockey, noting the NHL’s top prize of the Stanley Cup currently resides in his home town, Chicago.
“Now, I don’t want to gloss over the very real differences between Americans and Canadians. There are some things we will probably never agree on. Who’s beer is better? Who’s better at hockey?” Obama joked. “Where’s the Stanley Cup right now? I’m sorry, is it in my hometown, with the Chicago Blackhawks?”
Trudea responded, saying “certainty that there’s a high demand for Canadian goods down here.”
“A few that come to mind that President Obama just rightly recognized as being extraordinary contributors to the American success story is Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks,” Trudeau said, noting three prominent Canadians. Sharp has since joined the Dallas Stars.
Obama’s lighthearted remarks marked a distant cry from the formal welcome greeting he’s delivered for leaders of China, Japan, and Pope Francis — all in the last year. Those leaders expect the highest levels of protocol visiting the White House.
Obama, for example, would never rib Xi Jinping about the Stanley Cup and Shinzo Abe about the quality of his beer. Canadians are a little more laid back, Obama said.
But Trudeau seemed to take the jokes in stride, tweeting, “My thanks to @POTUS Barack Obama for the warm welcome today. Sophie & I already feel at home.”
And as he works to develop an alliance — and friendship — with the young Trudeau, the President is clearly working toward something broader than what U.S.-Canada ties have previously been.
In his remarks, Obama mentioned climate change and same-sex marriage as the major points of agreement. Those are areas Obama hopes will constitute his liberal legacy; in Trudeau, he sees a natural heir to his progressive vision, even if he’s a little further north.
“Even more to protect our countries and our community, especially in the arctic from climate change, just as we acted together at Paris to reach the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change,” Obama said.
He also said the two countries could “do even more together to advance human development around the world.”
“From saving a child from a preventable disease to giving a student in Africa electricity to study by. Because as Americans and Canadians we believe in the inherent dignity of every human being,” he said.