--- description: He cracked jokes about Ted Cruz and Justin Bieber. title: Read President Obama's Toast to Justin Trudeau image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt093c40d748a0e68c/69888a998e06019ea3464fce/obama_canada.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read President Obama's Toast to Justin Trudeau by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 11, 2016 4:23 AM CUT  President Barack Obama, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau exchange toasts during a state dinner at the White House, in Washington, DC, March 10, 2016. President Barack Obama, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau exchange toasts during a state dinner at the White House, in Washington, DC, March 10, 2016.Olivier Douliery—Pool/EPA by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 11, 2016 4:23 AM CUT President Obama had some fun [giving a toast](http://time.com/4255070/obama-white-house-ted-cruz-gop-trudeau/ "undefined") to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a state dinner Thursday. From cracking a joke about Canadian-born Sen. Ted Cruz to relating a telling anecdote about Trudeau’s father, Obama was clearly having a good time. Here’s a full transcript of his toast—and Trudeau’s response. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4255175/barack-obama-justin-trudeau-state-dinner-canada-toast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4255175/barack-obama-justin-trudeau-state-dinner-canada-toast/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Toast to Justin Trudeau","datePublished":"2016-03-11T04:23:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:49:20.765Z","description":"He cracked jokes about Ted Cruz and Justin Bieber.","url":"https://time.com/4255175/barack-obama-justin-trudeau-state-dinner-canada-toast/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Canada","Justin Trudeau"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt093c40d748a0e68c/69888a998e06019ea3464fce/obama_canada.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt093c40d748a0e68c/69888a998e06019ea3464fce/obama_canada.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the USA - White House State Dinner Reception","caption":"Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the USA - White House State Dinner Reception","creditText":"Olivier Douliery—Pool/EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4255175/barack-obama-justin-trudeau-state-dinner-canada-toast/","name":"Read President Obama's Toast to Justin Trudeau"}}]}] ```