Donald Trump sent Justin Trudeau a torn-out magazine picture of the Canadian prime minister and scrawled ‘looking good’ on it during dispute over trade deficit opening bizarre handwritten correspondence

• Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exchanged a few hand-written messages to each other in 2017
• Sources described the correspondence between the two leaders, which was previously unreported
• In the first note, Trump sent Trudeau a ripped-out cover of Bloomberg Businessweek that featured the Canadian leader on the front
• The cover described Trudeau as the ‘Anti-Trump’ 
• A source said Trump wrote something like, ‘Looking good! Hope it’s not true!’ on the cover in silver Sharpie
• The sources did not indicate that Trump received a response from the note
• He then sent a document in December 2017 where he wrote ‘Not good!’ next to a figure that showed the U.S. had a trade deficit with Canada 
• Trudeau responded on December 20, 2017 with a hand-written note on his letterhead
• ‘Dear Donald,’ he wrote ‘One thing… you were slightly off on the balance of trade with Canada. USTR says so!’ he said
• Trudeau also attached a U.S. document that showed when goods  and services were included, the U.S. actually had a $12.5 billion trade surplus with Canada

Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have exchanged at least a few hand-written notes, according to a Monday report.

It all started a few months after Trump took office when Trudeau appeared on the cover of the May 1-7, 2017 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek where he was dubbed ‘The Anti-Trump.’

Four sources with direct knowledge of the correspondence told Axios the first note sent to the neighbors in the north was so odd that the Canadian ambassador checked with the White House to make sure it wasn’t some sort of prank.

Trump tore out that cover of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine and wrote on it in silver Sharpie. The sources say the message said something like: ‘Looking good! Hope it’s not true!’ in reference to Trudeau’s classification as the opposite of the American president.

A new report shows that Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have exchanged at least three hand-written correspondences since Trump took office

Trump was the first to do so – sending the page from the front of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine in May 2017 that featured Trudeau on the front

The cover described Trudeau as the ‘Anti-Trump,’ and sources say the president wrote, ‘Looking good! Hope it’s not true!’ on the front cover in silver Sharpie and sent it off to Canada

The missive went through the normal clearance process at the National Security Council before the diplomatic message was mailed to the Canadian Embassy in Washington. Two sources indicated that the White House later had to confirm its validity after skepticism from the ambassador.

Although some staff felt this type of correspondence with a foreign leader was inappropriate, they figured it would be viewed as a positive outreach from Trump, who is often critical of the Canadian prime minister, and said ‘it was done in good fun.’

The president’s next hand-written note to Trudeau came less than a year later.

During a December 2017 rally, the president told the crowd gathered in Pensacola, Florida that the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada. A source with knowledge of the president’s correspondence said he sent another missive to Trudeau around the same time.

The document Trump sent showed the same claim he made during the rally, and the source said he wrote in Sharpie directly on the paper something to the effect of, ‘Not good!’

Weeks later, Trudeau sent a response to the president – the only known correspondence he sent as part of the hand-written missives – dated December 20, 2017.

In December 2017, he sent another hand-written message, this time a document that claimed the U.S. has a trade deficit with Canada, he wrote on the paper in Sharpie: ‘Not good!’

Trudeau sent a response this time with a hand-written note on his official letterhead

‘Dear Donald, It’s been a busy year! Enjoy the Christmas holidays — you deserve it,’ he wrote in a December letter. He attached a document that showed the U.S. had a surplus with Canada, the opposite of what Trump claimed in his previous letter and said during a rally that month

Trudeau’s note, however, was on his official stationary.

‘Dear Donald,’ the Canadian leader wrote in the letter, which was confirmed by three sources. ‘It’s been a busy year! Enjoy the Christmas holidays — you deserve it.’

‘One thing,’ Trudeau added, abandoning the friendly tone of the greeting of his letter. ‘You gave a great speech in Pensacola, but you were slightly off on the balance of trade with Canada. USTR says so! All the best for 2018, Justin.’

In the envelope he also included a printout of an information page for Canada from the website of the Office of the United State Trade Representative and underline a sentence that reported ‘the U.S. goods and services trade surplus with Canada was $12.5 billion in 2016.’

Trudeau circled the $12.5 billion and drew a smiley face next to it, a source described.

During Trump’s rally, he only mentioned the trade of goods and did not make mention of the surplus in services, which when combined gives the U.S. its overall surplus.

Trump, 73, and Trudeau, 47, have met on five different occasions, and don’t necessarily have the best relationship. Trump has said Canada is one of the most difficult foreign nations to negotiate with

‘We’re not going to comment on whether or what paper was exchanged between our 2 countries,’ a Canadian government official told Axios. ‘There was a lot of back and forth.’

‘That said, it is certainly true that there were disagreements between our 2 countries about the figures, and we repeatedly pointed to USTR and U.S. Commerce’s own figures,’ the official continued, noting they would not comment on the Bloomberg cover, but would also not deny that the president sent it to Trudeau.

The U.S. relationship with Canada is at most times amicable, but the Trump administration has ramped up rhetoric against Trudeau, who is part of the Liberal Party of Canada. The two leaders have met on five different occasions. 

Previously, Trump has told his aides Canada is ‘the worst’ country to negotiate with, and, according to sources, in private he calls the 47-year-old leader a young, cocky ‘wise guy.’

A senior administration officials also says the president has referred to Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland as ‘very nasty.’

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