--- title: Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama: The Striking Personal Bond description: "We see ourselves in each other, guided by the same values," President Obama said canonical: https://time.com/4254198/justin-trudeau-president-obama-canada-white-house/ author: Karl Vick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-10T20:14:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:48:04.670Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Striking Personal Bond Between Obama and Trudeau og:description: "We see ourselves in each other, guided by the same values" og:url: https://time.com/4254198/justin-trudeau-president-obama-canada-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2014be7c98bfba01/69888a88a988cafb5c6b6ed0/obama-trudeau1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4451 og:image:height: 2504 og:image:alt: Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Striking Personal Bond Between Obama and Trudeau twitter:description: "We see ourselves in each other, guided by the same values" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2014be7c98bfba01/69888a88a988cafb5c6b6ed0/obama-trudeau1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Striking Personal Bond Between Obama and Trudeau > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Karl Vick/Washington, D.C.](https://time.com/author/karl-vick/)  ## Karl Vick/Washington, D.C. Editor at Large Mar 10, 2016 8:14 PM UTC  President Barack Obama shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on March 10, 2016. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on March 10, 2016.Andrew Harnik—AP  by [Karl Vick/Washington, D.C.](https://time.com/author/karl-vick/)  ## Karl Vick/Washington, D.C. Editor at Large Mar 10, 2016 8:14 PM UTC It was easy to imagine a torch being passed as Barack Obama [welcomed Justin Trudeau on Thursday morning](http://time.com/4253941/obama-trudeaus-us-canada-climate-change-methane-emission/), throwing wide open a White House that seven-odd years ago brimmed with the same energy—a handsome new leader, and his enchanting young family—that Ottawa now beams out to the world. In case the point eluded anyone, the Canadian premier opened his remarks in the Rose Garden by quoting JFK: “President Kennedy’s wise words on our friendship, that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.” Trudeau was talking about Canada and the U.S., of course, but the observation was no less true of the leaders, who have hit it off famously since he took office in November. What unites Obama and Trudeau is a [shared progressive agenda](http://time.com/4253927/justin-trudeau-canada-prime-minister-white-house-visit/?xid=homepage), a world view that embraces the diversity so unsettling to many others, and an insistence on staying positive. “He campaigned on a message of hope and of change,” Obama observed, without needing to add why that might sound familiar. “We see ourselves in each other, guided by the same values,” the president added, again referring nominally to nations, though it was clear enough the two men like each other. A lot. After only two meetings, Obama calls Trudeau “Justin” and Trudeau calls Obama “Barack.” The[ State Dinner](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/07/us/politics/obama-state-dinner-guest-lists.html) the U.S. President is throwing the Canadian Thursday night is just the tenth of his two terms—and the first honoring a Canadian leader in two decades. But there was also a bittersweet quality to the visit. On the sidewalk beside Pennsylvania Avenue on Thursday morning, Trudeau’s children gave each other piggy back rides down the steps of Blair House, then, having reached the sidewalk, twirled in circles from the iron supports of the canvas awning, while their glamorous mother, the former TV personality [Sophie Gregoire](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/fashion/sophie-gregoire-trudeau-state-dinner.html), chatted amid the waiting black SUVs. At Andrews, where the Canadians landed Wednesday afternoon, the younger boy, Hadrian, stole the show by seeing how far he could dig his hands into the front pockets of his cargo pants as his parents stood at attention for the Star Spangled Banner. These aren’t the Kennedys. They’re Canada’s version—Trudeaus; Justin and his siblings were the ones frolicking during the 15 years their father, Pierre, led Canada, without stinting on glamour. But the comparisons today are with the Obamas, who seven years ago brought their extraordinary vitality to the executive mansion, and are no longer so new or brimming with quite so much youthful hope. Obama, who at 54 is 10 years Trudeau’s senior, made jokes about the need to dye graying hair before anyone notices, and a reporter’s question that implied “I’m old and creaky.” But while planning the celebrated visit, the two leaders had talked about what is indeed fleeting. “What Barack pointed out to me about how fast his daughters grew in the seven years since that first night of his electoral victory really struck home to me,” Trudeau said. The reminders are everywhere. As Obama ushered him to his limousine after their joint news conference, the curving walkway passed the playground the president had [put in just outside the Oval Office](http://www.today.com/id/29517228/ns/today-today%5Fnews/t/obama-surprises-daughters-new-swing-set/#.VuHLDRgrLfY) in 2009, when his girls were 7 and 10\. 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