Trudeau and Poilievre Steer Clear of Weighing In on Trump Indictment

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre were asked to comment on the indictment of former U.S. president Donald J. Trump, but they both steered clear of commenting on the issue.

“It’s a question for the American people and their justice system,” Trudeau said in French on April 4 from Lévis, Québec.

“My priority, as it was during the era and administration of Donald Trump, was to stand up and create good jobs here in Canada, to build a prosperous economy in cooperation with our American partners.”

Trudeau said his current focus when thinking about the U.S. is on working jointly to create a “greener” economy, jobs for the middle class, and opportunities for all.

“This is what we’ve demonstrated last week when Mr. Biden came here.”

Trudeau made the comments after a ceremony announcing the Davie shipyard in Lévis is now part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

Trump and Trudeau had a tense relationship, with the former U.S. president at one point calling him “very dishonest & weak” in 2018 a tweet.

It was in response to Trudeau saying Canada would not be “pushed around” on the issue of U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.

Trump is facing charges in relation to a hush money payment in 2016 to adult entertainment actress Stormy Daniels. The payment was carried out by then Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who has since turned against him.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to the payment. Trump has pleaded not guilty on April 4 and called the case a political prosecution.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre was also asked to comment on the Trump indictment during a press conference in Saguenay, Québec.

A reporter asked him to provide his reading of the situation given the profile of his supporters is “a bit similar to the Republican Party.”

“I don’t do any reading of this,” Poilievre said in French.

“I’m going to be Canada’s Prime Minister, focused on Canada’s problems, that means I’m not going to waste time getting involved in the internal politics of other countries.”

Poilievre was in Saguenay to signal his opposition to a federal plan to ban logging in the area to protect the woodland caribou, which will impact the local economy.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault intends to impose a decree on the province to better protect the animal.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.