Just watched the presser now, and I think it scarcely could have gone better.
In fact, if I didn't know better, I would suspect Canada set the agenda, lining the day up with a Trump-to-sleep-inducing morning of listening to women entrepreneurs, followed by canned speeches about stuff Trump isn't very interested in. It looked to me that Canada is so low on the USA's priority list they really didn't have much of an agenda of their own today - just a box to be checked on their list of social obligations.
That's pretty much exactly what I'd want: the US administration to view Canada as so vanilla we simply pass under the radar for the next few years. Meanwhile, just by emphasizing Canada's values and approach - without denigrating the US - Canada ends up looking like a beacon to the rest of the world in contrast with our southern neighbours.
Full marks today for Trudeau. I think this was his biggest test yet and he passed it well. There's clearly no warmth between him and Trump, but no frigidity either. Just passive, polite, understated tolerance.
Also, I would not fight Trudeau (skip to the 8 minute mark).
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