For Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mondays meeting at the White House with Donald Trump went pretty much as well as possible. Trump promised that any change in the binational trade relationship would be a tweak, while Trudeau got a meme-able moment of subtle resistance to Trump, when herefused to succumbto the presidents overbearing handshake.For the most part, their first meeting glossed over the awkwardness of the Trump-Trudeau relationship so far. Earlier this month, Trudeau took a dig at the presidents executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries by tweeting a welcome message to refugees himself, while Trumps press secretary angered many Canadian officials byusing a shootingat a Quebec mosque to justify the travel ban, even though the alleged shooter was a white, right-wing French Canadian.Temperamentally, the two administrations are quite different. In the age of Trumps loud nativism, many American progressives have seen Canada as part of the resistance movement, a bulwark against his most illiberal tendencies. As Nicholas Kristofwrotein a column for theTimes, Canada may now be the finest example of the values of the Statue of Liberty, because of its openness to immigration and continuing commitment to refugees. Over 40,000 displaced Syrians have already been resettled in the country.But when Trudeau met Trump on Monday, he was careful not to explicitly criticize the president. Trudeau stood by while Trump defended the travel ban. The last thing Canadians expect is for me to come down and lecture another country on how they choose togovern themselves, hesaid. His silence was rooted in the same paradox that faces every Canadian leaderhow far can Canada go in criticizing its one major strategic partner'Theres a strong incentive for Canadas leaders never to speak ill of an American president, no matter how unpopular his positions might be at home. Trudeaus father, who served as prime minister in the 70s and 80s, once compared the relationship to sleeping next to an elephant. Canada is a member of many strategic partnerships with the U.S., like Five Eyes, which means our intelligence departments have deep access to each others resources. But when discussing the special relationship between Canada and the States, trade is a deeper and ultimately more fragile link.Three-quarters of Canadas exportshead south to the United States. NAFTA enshrines free trade between the two countries, while also ensuring certain Canadians have easier access to U.S. visas. For a government trying to keep that deal in place, picking fights with a capricious White House could have real consequences.There was a time when Canadian prime ministers took on American presidents as a matter of course. In 1965, Lester B. Pearson called for a cessation of bombings in Vietnam. During a diplomatic visit to the White House later on, Lyndon Johnson is said to have grabbed Pearson up by the lapels andshouted,Dont you come into my living room and piss on my rug.Trudeaus silence is rooted in the same paradox that faces every Canadian leaderhow far can Canada go in criticizing its one major strategic partner'There is no such grit today. While Jean Chrtien, a Liberal prime minister in the 90s and 00s, kept Canadian troops out of the Iraq war, he was always careful to tamp down criticism of George W. Bush inside his own party. He expressed displeasure when an aide called the president a moron (the aide resigned) and even kicked a member of Parliament out of his party forstomping on a Bush dollduring a comedy show. While Stephen Harper, a Conservative, was clearly frustrated with Barack Obama over the Keystone pipeline, which Harper favored, he alwaysemphasizedhis great friendship with the president, even if the two leadersnever looked terribly comfortableside by side.Trudeau has maintained this friendly neutrality. He remained silent during the presidential campaign, and issued a boilerplate letter of congratulations when Trump was elected. Since then, Trudeaus official comments have been about agreement and compromise.Hes expressed a willingness torenegotiate NAFTA, an unpopular position at home. And according to several reports, Liberal MPs have been strongly advised to stay quiet on the new president.Trudeaus official neutrality was put to the test one week after the travel ban, when Canadian opposition parties called an emergency debate on immigration. For over an hour, members of the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party or NDPCanadas social democratsasked pointed questions about the governments position on refugees and Trumps executive order. Canadas newly minted Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen talked about Canadas commitment to refugees but refused to denounce Trump or Canadas cap on Syrian refugees. Thats in sharp contrast to the NDP leader, who has gone so far asto call Trump a fascist.For Trudeau, there is no good outcome when it comes to dealing with Trump. Polls suggest Canadians would be happy to see their government take on the American president. According to one,over 80 percent of Canadians disapproveof Trumps performance, while another suggests58 percent of Canadians would approve of a trade warwith America if Trump introduced new tariffs. But officials in Trudeau's government worry that Canada has a lot more to lose in a trade fight with the United States, particularly after the Canadian economy went through a slowdown in 2016.This Catch-22 coincides with the end of Trudeaus political honeymoon. His support of the Keystone XL pipeline and other major energy projectshas angered environmentalists, while his push for national carbon pricing has been unpopular with the right.*In the past few weeks, hes reversed course on a campaign promise to introduce electoral reform and faced backlash overcash-for-access fundraiserswhere political donors were given access to Cabinet ministers.For the first time since his election, the poll numbers have started to drop. A recent Ipsos poll shows a Conservative Party led by reality TV starKevin OLearywithin1 pointof the Liberals, and Trudeaus approval rating has fallen. Amid this bad news, the prime minister shuffled his Cabinet and embarked on a cross-Canada listening tour to re-engage with voters in local town halls. But rather than re-igniting Trudeau-mania, the tour resulted in several gaffes, including a confusing and widely criticizedstatementabout First Nations youth needing more money for canoes.Trudeau scores political points at home every time the media favorably compares him to the U.S. president. But he can only play up that contrast subtly, or he risks jeopardizing Canadas relationship with Trump. The meeting between them was stilted and cordial. For Trudeau, that may be an atmosphere worth cultivating.SEE ALSO:Why Stephen Colbert is suddenly the most popular person in late nightDON'T MISS:Kellyanne Conway should be punished for breaking the law on live TVJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: NASA just released over 100 images of Pluto ' and the footage is breathtaking
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