Trudeau dines at Mar-a-Lago amid tariff tiff – National & International News – FRI 29Nov2024

Trudeau dines at Mar-a-Lago amid tariff tiff.

Paris: Notre Dame cathedral reopens five years after devastating fire

Trudeau dines at Mar-a-Lago amid tariff tiff

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly dined with President-elect Donald Trump and several members of his incoming administration at Trump’s Florida resort home. This included Trump’s picks to lead the Commerce and Interior Departments, as well as members of his national security team.

The meeting comes four days after Trump took to Truth Social threatening 25% tariffs on all goods coming from both Canada and Mexico, two of the US’ most important trade partners. The announcement sparked fears of further price increases for American consumers already exhausted by years of inflation. Some have characterized Trump’s threat as a negotiating ploy, seeking guarantees from our neighboring countries on border security and the flow of fentanyl into the US.

Both Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have said they are willing to work with Trump to head off a trade war. However, officials both in Mexico and Canada have floated retaliatory tariffs on American goods if Trump does go through with his tariff threat.

While flows of both migrants and fentanyl in the US over the Canadian border pale in comparison to the Southern border, Canadian officials have said they are willing to make greater investments in border security.

Half-truth Social

On Wednesday, Trump once again posted on Truth Social claiming that in a “wonderful” and “very productive” conversation with Mexico’s Sheinbaum, she had promised to “stop migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern border”.

Sheinbaum responded the following day denying this claim. “Everyone has their own way of communicating,” she said, alluding to Trump’s fondness for hyperbolic claims. Sheinbaum went on to say that not only Mexico would never commit to “closing the southern border”, but also that, despite claims to the contrary, such a task would be impossible.

Sheinbaum reiterated that due to cooperation between the US and Mexico, immigration flows were already declining. However, she did say after the call on Wednesday that she was confident that a “tariff war” between Mexico and the United States could be averted.

Paris: Notre Dame reopens five years after devastating fire

Reporters and French officials were treated to a sneak-peak of the interior of Notre Dame cathedral ahead of its public re-opening on December 8. For the last 5 years, the cathedral has undergone a costly and painstaking program of restoration and conservation after a lightning strike in April 2019 sparked a devastating fire. Since its consecration in 1182, Notre Dame has been a central landmark in Parisian life, which also drew pilgrims from all over the world to marvel at its soaring Gothic architecture.

After the fire, President Emmanuel Macron vowed that the cathedral would be restored by 2024. It was a gargantuan effort, but it was achieved through a massive collaboration of art history experts, conservators, and craftsmen from all over the world. The teams carried out a massive cleaning and restoration of the church’s nave and many of its chapels. Visitors will now be able to view architectural and artistic masterpieces, including brilliant and colorful murals, that had previously been obscured by centuries of dirt and grime.

The cathedral’s closure and reconstruction also allowed archaeologists to carry out investigations of the nave and crypts. They turned up discoveries that have allowed them to reimagine how the chapel would have looked before and during various renovations over the centuries. Their investigation in the crypts also revealed the final resting place of many of Paris’ elite, including Joachim du Bellay, a 16^th-century nobleman and Renaissance poet entombed in a lead coffin in 1560.