Though Obama came to Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit with a new financial commitment to bolster the Philippine maritime fleet, the nation’s hearts and minds seemed won over by the 43-year-old Canadian, who lighted up Twitter with the designation #APECHottie.
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Back home, he’s enjoying a reprise of “Trudeaumania”, the wave of popularity that swept his father into office in 1968 and kept him there, with a short break, until 1984.
Trudeau joked that grey hair was beyond his control and said he looked forward to the trip to Washington.
Netizens hailed the #APECHotties battle as “the bright side of Apec” and “probably the only good thing” about the meeting. “We’ll take a few interest right now and turn that into the substance of what we’re talking about”. He will also go to Malta for the Commonwealth leaders’ gathering and Paris for the climate talks. “You and your family look great”, Obama said.
But Obama put the squeeze on Trudeau on a key trade issue.
In Turkey and the Philippines, the prime minister highlighted the need for Canada to hold consultations on the US-led trade deal Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), its role in the anti-terrorism coalition, its support for an ambitious climate change deal, and his government’s openness to accepting Syrian refugees.
The newly-elected Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau was met by throngs of fans during his diplomatic debut at both the G-20 and APEC economic summits – a rockstar reception for an otherwise buttoned up crowd of politicians.
The Huffington Post Canada and several other Canadian newspapers were drawn as well to the hunk competition, but a lot of them admitted being less than surprised with the attention that the son of their former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau-himself charismatic and popular during his time-was getting overseas.
Obama, 54, who becomes the elder statesman among the three North American leaders, had his first bilateral meeting with Trudeau on Thursday.
Obama’s recent announcement to reject a Canadian company’s request to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would have carried crude oil from Alberta to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries was fortunate for Trudeau, said James Coleman, a legal scholar at the University of Calgary who studies environmental and energy regulation. “I am making sure to try and remain as attentive and present for my kids, not just because it makes me a better parent and a better person, but also because it’s what keeps us focused as leaders on what actually matters”.
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Soon after arriving in Manila on November 17, Obama immediately boarded a US-donated Philippines navy frigate that operates around the Spratly Islands, which are claimed by both the Philippines and China, reported the BBC.
