Donald Trump reignited the baseless conspiracy theory about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an interview with an internet personality, stating that he “could be” the son of former Cuban president Fidel Castro.
Speaking about Canada's political climate with well-known streamer Adin Ross, Trump remarked, “He's turned very liberal.”
On being asked to react to photos of various US and foreign leaders, Trump saw the picture of Trudeau and brought up the conspiracy theory, citing “they” as his unnamed sources. “They say he's the son of Fidel Castro and could be. Anything's possible in this world.”
“Anything's possible in this world, you know,” he added.
Born on December 25, 1971, Trudeau is the son of the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his spouse, Margaret.
Pierre Elliott visited the communist dictatorship for the first time in 1976 with his then-wife Margaret and their third and youngest son, Michel.
Trudeau, who had made personal visits to Cuba, returned to the Caribbean nation in November 2016 as Canadian PM and drew comparisons between his and Trump's perceptions of the socialist-led country.
{{/usCountry}}Trudeau, who had made personal visits to Cuba, returned to the Caribbean nation in November 2016 as Canadian PM and drew comparisons between his and Trump's perceptions of the socialist-led country.
{{/usCountry}}Following the demise of Castro, Trudeau paid homage to him and referred to him as a “legendary revolutionary and orator”, who had significantly improved Cuba’s educational and healthcare institutions. He obliquely mentioned him as a “controversial figure,” inciting the conspiracy theories.
According to fact-checking website Snopes, the theory was first proposed by a user on the Trump subreddit, /r/The_Donald.
Trump says Canadians seem ‘unhappy’
In the interview, which appeared on a livestreaming platform Kick, Trump claimed that he gets along with Trudeau “very well”, but added that “he seems to be going very progressive and the people of Canada are not liking it.”
Trump later went on to make some assumptions regarding the chances of a Conservative leader.
“If they had a good conservative person which — maybe they do, maybe they don’t, I don’t know — but, uh, somebody that’s a strong conservative would win Canada. Canada is very unhappy about the way they’ve been treated as people, but I got along with him well.”
Trump and Trudeau shared a tumultuous and transactional relationship during the GOP leader's tenure in the White House as the US levied steel and aluminum tariffs, Trump pushed Canada to raise defense spending and North American free trade agreement was renegotiated.
During a NATO leaders summit in 2019, Trudeau was caught on camera on a hot mic making jokes about Trump alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, former UK PM Boris Johnson, and Dutch PM Mark Rutte.
Trump referred to Trudeau as “two-faced" following the global uproar, but reiterated that he maintains a good bond with him.