Canadian PM Justin Trudeau turns down White House invitation, cites prior commitments

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declined an invitation from the White House. According to reports, the US authorities extended the invitation to the Canadian leader in a bid to celebrate the newly signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Obrador will meet on June 8, the Canadian Prime Minister decided to skip the event.

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Declines invitation due to prior commitments

According to reports, a spokesperson from Trudeau's office has stated that the Canadian Prime Minister will not be able to attend the meeting owing to his prior commitments in Ottawa.

Trudeau would be attending a cabinet meeting and a sitting of Parliament on the date concerned. The Canadian Prime Minister has been holding cabinet meetings online in the wake of to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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In addition to his prior commitments, reports have indicated that Trudeau is wary of travelling to the United States because of the provision that mandates all Canadians to quarantine themselves for 14 days upon their return to the country. The Canadian Prime Minister has instead asked Trump to talk with him on the phone.

Currently, the United States is the global epicentre of the deadly coronavirus. The US has reported 2,897,613 positive coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the has the highest number of reported cases in the world with a death toll of 130,007. Its neighbour Canada, on the other hand, has only reported 107,408 COVID-19 cases with a death toll of 8,742.

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