U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
On Friday, May 23, five U.S. senators visited Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario — Canada's capital city — and met with Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Mark Carney. The senators, according to Punchbowl News, were "determined to help repair relations between" the United States and Canada during a time of considerable tension between the neighboring countries.
The U.S. and Canada have a long history of being close allies, but the relationship turned sour after U.S. President Donald Trump announced steep new tariffs on Canadian goods imported into the U.S. And his proposal that Canada become "the 51st state" only added to the tension.
Four of the five U.S. senators who visited Parliament Hill on May 23 were Democrats, but one was a Republican: Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.
READ MORE: 'Bad ideas coming back': Trump slammed for latest 'nuts' economic proposals
Punchbowl's Andrew Desiderio reports, "On paper, it’s a trip that very few Republicans would want to take. They'd be pressed to answer for President Donald Trump's hostility toward a longtime U.S. ally — most notably his tariffs, which most oppose. And a meeting with new Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose defiance in the face of Trump’s antagonism helped fuel his rise to the office, might not be so pleasant either. It was perhaps fitting that the Senate delegation’s co-leader — and the only Republican in the group — was Sen. Kevin Cramer (ND)."
Cramer, according to Punchbowl, has a "direct interest in cooling tensions between the two nations, given that more than a million Canadians visit North Dakota each year."
Cramer told Punchbowl, "I don't want to get in Donald Trump's way. There’s no (trade) deal that happens without his involvement. But at the same time, (I want to) be an encourager to Canada and their officials and try to be a partner in some way. Hopefully, I navigated it OK, but I'll find out on Truth Social."
The Democratic senators in the delegation included Virginia's Tim Kaine, Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, Vermont's Peter Welch of Vermont, and New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen.
READ MORE: 'An offense in Canada': Trump may be legally barred from traveling to the G7
Kaine made it clear that he welcomed Cramer's participation, telling Punchbowl, "I think the president has a high regard for Kev’s insight and loyalty — and that means the president can probably hear some things from him that, if I said it, I wouldn’t get paid attention to. That’s a very helpful perspective to have at the table."
At a press conference in Ottawa, Cramer told Canadian reporters, "For the moment, the United States has become an adversary to the Canadian people because of the offense that so many have felt. What I would stress with the president would be, let’s keep our eye on the common adversary and how much stronger we can be."
Read the full Punchbowl News article at this link.