Trudeau and Trump discussed border security between Canada and the United States, as well as the war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has talked with U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of the virtual G7 meeting planned for Feb. 24.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Trudeau and Trump discussed border security between Canada and the United States, as well as the war in Ukraine in the Feb. 22 call.
“The Prime Minister also updated the President about shared progress at the Canada-U.S. border combatting fentanyl, including the work of Canada’s new Fentanyl Czar and Canada’s listing of cartels,” the PMO said.
Canada this week listed drug cartels and gangs on its terrorist organization lists, alongside groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. This was one of the promises Trudeau had made in exchange for Trump agreeing to pause blanket tariffs on Canadian imports. Canada also agreed to appoint a “fentanyl czar” and allocate new funding for intelligence operations targeting drugs and money laundering in addition to the $1.3 billion funding it had announced previously to boost border security.
In total, seven new entities were added to the terrorist list in Canada, including five drug cartels and two street gangs. It followed a similar move by the United States, who listed the same groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office to begin the process of designating the groups as terrorist entities. He has said that the groups pose a national security risk to the United States.
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Canada has also appointed Kevin Brosseau as its fentanyl czar. The former RCMP member’s role involves working with U.S. counterparts and law enforcement agencies to boost Canada’s work to detect, disrupt, and dismantle the fentanyl trade, according to a Feb. 11 PMO news release.
The PMO said that during the Feb. 22 call with Trump, Trudeau “noted seizures of fentanyl at the border have decreased.”
Canada-based organized crime groups in the fentanyl trade have increased by 42 percent since 2019, according to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada’s 2024 public report.
The report said a total of 235 criminal groups were involved in fentanyl, and 35 of those are exporting domestically manufactured drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.
On the Ukraine war, Trudeau had said earlier this week that Ukraine needs to be at the negotiating table on the peace talks. The United States and Russia have agreed to appoint high-level teams to discuss settling the war.
The Associated Press and Noe Chartier contributed to this article.
