Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith and President-elect Trump met Saturday to discuss the “mutual importance” of the U.S.-Canada energy relationship and the hundreds of thousands of American jobs supported by Alberta exports.
“In the last 24 hours, I had the opportunity to meet the president [Trump] at Mar-a-Lago last night and at his golf club this morning,” Smith wrote in a post on X. “We had a friendly and constructive conversation during which I emphasized the mutual importance of the US-Canada energy relationship, and in particular, how hundreds of thousands It supports American jobs by exporting energy from Alberta.”
She continued, saying she had similar conversations with “several key allies” of the incoming Trump administration in which she was encouraged to hear of their support for a “strong energy and security relationship with Canada.”
“On behalf of Albertans, I will continue to engage in constructive dialogue and diplomacy with the incoming administration and elected federal and state officials from both parties, and I will do everything I can to advance the interests of Alberta and Canada,” Smith said. “The United States and Canada are proud and independent nations with one of the most important security alliances in the world and the largest economic partnership in history. We must preserve our independence as we develop this vital partnership for the benefit of Canadians and Americans for generations to come.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with President-elect Trump and others on his transition team at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. (Danielle Smith X)
Smith announced the meeting on X, nearly a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation amid mounting pressure within his own Liberal Party and heightened criticism of his handling of the economy and threats from Trump.
But as Trudeau announced on Monday his plan to resign as prime minister after the Liberal Party he leads chooses his successor, the biggest resistance Trump’s attempt to annex Canada – and his planned 25% tariffs on exports from the country – came from the premier of Canada’s most populous province, Ontario.
Smith and Trump discussed US-Canada relations. (Danielle Smith X)
Doug Ford, a former businessman and conservative who has served as Ontario’s 26th premier since 2018, said in an interview with Fox News Digital that the president-elect’s targeting of Canada is both “insane” and “ridiculous.”
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He said the bilateral focus should be on “strengthening” what the Canadian government calls a nearly trillion-dollar two-way relationship trade relationship to “make the US and Canada the richest and most successful jurisdiction in the world”.
The president-elect has been trolling Canada in recent weeks, floating the idea of it becoming the 51st federal state and posting a fictional photo of himself standing next to a Canadian flag on top of a mountain.
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Trump also pushed for Denmark to sell the North Atlantic island of Greenland to the US
Fox News’ Christopher Guly contributed to this report.
