Why did Danielle Smith meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago?

Social media photos show the Alberta premier cavorting with a variety of conservative figures at Trump’s golf resort

Alberta premier Danielle Smith travelled to Florida this week to meet with incoming U.S. president Donald Trump and various policymakers about prospective tariffs on Canadian imports into the U.S.

The premier is getting plenty of attention for posting about the visit on social media where she shared photographs alongside not only Trump, but Canadian businessman and failed federal conservative party leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary and former academic Jordan Peterson. 

According to the Government of Alberta, Smith and Trump had a “friendly and constructive conversation during which [she] emphasized the mutual importance of the U.S.–Canada energy relationship.”

Senior editor Mel Woods breaks down what you need to know and the context around these images.

Senior editor Mel Woods is an English-speaking Vancouver-based writer, editor and audio producer and a former associate editor with HuffPost Canada. A proud prairie queer and ranch dressing expert, their work has also appeared in Vice, Slate, the Tyee, the CBC, the Globe and Mail and the Walrus.

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