Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and President-elect Trump met on Saturday and discussed the “mutual importance” of the U.S.-Canada energy relationship and the hundreds of thousands of American jobs supported through Alberta exports.
“Over the past 24 hours, I had the opportunity to meet with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last night and at his golf club this morning,” Smith wrote in a post on X. She emphasized the mutual importance of the U.S.-Canada energy relationship, and specifically, how hundreds of thousands of American jobs are supported by Alberta's energy exports.
She went on to say that she has had similar discussions with “several key allies” of the incoming Trump administration, and 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, federal and state elected officials from both parties, and do everything I can to advance the interests of Alberta and Canada,” Smith said. “The United States and Canada are proud, independent nations with one of the most important security alliances on Earth and the largest economic partnership in history. We need to maintain our independence as we grow this important partnership for the benefit of Canadians and Americans for generations to come.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with President-elect Trump and others from his transition team at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. (Daniel Smith x)
Smith posted about the meeting on X, nearly a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation amid mounting pressure from within his Liberal Party and growing criticism over his handling of the economy and threats posed by Trump.
However, Trudeau on Monday announced his plan to resign as prime minister once his Liberal Party chooses a successor, the biggest reaction to that. Trump's plan to annex Canada – and the planned 25% tariffs on exports from the country – came from the premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario.
Smith and Trump discussed the relationship between the United States and Canada. (Daniel Smith x)
Doug Ford, a former businessman and Conservative who has served as Ontario's 26th premier since 2018, told Fox News Digital in an interview that targeting Canada's president-elect is “crazy” and “ridiculous.”
He said the bilateral focus should be on “consolidating” what the Canadian government calls a nearly trillion-dollar bilateral agreement. Business relationship “To make the United States and Canada the richest and most prosperous jurisdiction in the world.”
The president-elect has been touring Canada in recent weeks, where he floated the idea of becoming the 51st state and posted an edited photo of himself standing next to the Canadian flag on top of a mountain.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump is also pressuring Denmark to sell the North Atlantic island of Greenland to the United States
Fox News' Christopher Jolly contributed to this report.
