Opinion | Trump Is Wrong About Trudeau, He Is Much Worse Than 'Two-Faced'

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Benzinga editorial board.

U.S. President Donald Trump described his Canadian counterpart as being "two-faced" for showing a willingness to cooperate on military matters on stage and talking behind his back. Trump is wrong: Trudeau is much worse.

Showing Off For The Cameras

In typical Trudeau style, the Canadian prime minister can't hold back on showing the world his socks. And there is no bigger stage to show off what fabric graces his feet than when sitting next to Trump at the NATO summit in London.

Trump, on the other hand, has no interest in Trudeau's socks and gets straight to the point. He has no filter and bluntly asked Trudeau if Canada is living up to the 2014 commitment. He asks: "Where are you at? What is your number." Trudeau can't answer the question without the help of an aid. Trudeau tries his best to deflect the question and quickly highlight Canada is making "significant investments" in its fighter jets.

Trump isn't buying the lies Trudeau is selling (more on that later).

"Okay... where are you now in terms of your number," Trump asks a nervous-looking Trudeau.

An off-camera aid tells Trudeau Canada is spending 1.35% of GDP on its military. But Trudeau decided to round up to 1.4%. What's a few fractions of a percentage point anyways between allies?

The Lies

Canada's state-controlled, funded, and operated media outlet, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), never misses an opportunity to glorify their boss. So on the rare occasion the CBC calls Trudeau out on a lie, it's noteworthy.

According to CBC's calculations, Canada spends just 1.27% of its GDP on defense. It never came close to 2% even during the Cold War.

The difference between Trudeau's claim of 1.4% and the CBC's figure of 1.27% isn't pocket change. Canada's GDP stands at around $2 trillion, so the 0.13% difference is around $2.6 billion.

All will likely be forgiven between CBC and Trudeau, and Canadians can look forward to another year-end interview with the prime minister in the coming days.

Oh, and those large scale investments in fighter jets Trudeau claimed Canada is making? Anyone assuming Trudeau is referring to next generation fighter planes are certainly mistaken. Canada is buying a fleet of 30-year old used F/A-18s from Australia.

I'm sure those Russian bombers testing the limits of North American coastlines will be deterred by Canadian jets that could be twice the age of their pilot.

Flashback: Soldiers Asking For Too Much

During a town hall meeting back in early 2018, a veteran of Canada's military asked the Prime Minister why he failed to live up to a campaign promise of introducing new compensation for soldiers who were injured. Instead of fulfilling a pledge, leftists are fighting veterans in court.

In Trudeau's own words, veteran groups are "asking for more than we can give right now."

When sharing the stage with Trump, Trudeau can inflate Canada's military spending by $2.6 billion. But to the brave troops called to make the ultimate sacrifice, the real Trudeau comes out.

But the government's coffers are large enough to hand over a $10.5 million check to convicted terrorist Omar Khadr who killed U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer in Afghanistan and blinded Sergeant First Class Layne Morris in one eye. The eight-digit payout included a personal apology from Trudeau -- not to Speer's family, but to Khadr himself.

"Two-faced?" That would be complementing Trudeau and his attitude towards our military.

Jayson Derrick is a reporter for Benzinga.

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