Good afternoon, everyone.

Today, I had the first of a series of meetings to establish a new overall relationship between Canada and the United States. 

President Trump and I met today as leaders of two sovereign, independent nations. And I want to thank the President and the members of his cabinet that attended for welcoming me and my colleagues to the White House, and for a very constructive discussion. I conveyed to the President today what our countries have long proven to be true, that Canada and the United States are stronger when we work together. We can get a better deal for our workers, we can create more opportunities for our businesses, we can build stronger economies across North America when we work together. 

And really, today marked the end of the beginning of a process of the United States and Canada redefining that relationship of working together. The question is how we will cooperate in the future, how we can build an economic and security relationship built on mutual respect, built on common interests, and that delivers transformational benefits to our economies. 

We had what I would describe as wide-ranging, and as I said a moment ago, very constructive discussions. We agreed to have further conversations in the coming weeks, and we are looking forward to meeting in person at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis in Alberta. Now, while that’s going on, in Canada, we will focus on what we can control.

So tomorrow, I will meet with the premiers on a call to update them on the conversations we had here today, and to discuss the work we have ahead of us. 

We are going to reinforce our strength at home. We will reinforce Canada's security for an increasingly dangerous and divided world. We will transform our border security, our security in the Arctic and our support for our allies around the world. We’ll build an economy that creates jobs, grows incomes and withstand shocks, when…in fact, the strongest economy in the G7, an economy that works for everyone.

We will build a renewed Canadian economy where everyone can succeed, in a world that is undergoing profound changes. We will build the infrastructure that will enable our businesses to access new markets around the world, and we will build a single Canadian economy—not 13. 

We are masters in our own home and we can give ourselves far more than any foreign government can ever take away, so now is the time to build, and based on the discussion today, to build at home and to build with our partners abroad, including the United States. 

Thank you very much.