White House aide on ‘special place in hell’ remark: Not words I would have used

White House legislative director Marc Short said on Monday that he would not have used Peter Navarro’s words that there was a “special place in hell” for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

“I think that those are words that I would not have chosen,” Short told CNN’s John Berman. 

{mosads}”I think that the reality is that the president felt that they had had a productive meeting. You heard the president even make announcements there that our goal was to have no tariffs and no barriers, but I think that there was offense taken that once airborne on your way to an incredibly important international summit that the prime minister of Canada chose to take to the podium to condemn the actions of the United States,” he continued. 

“So that’s clearly what was the frustration, but no I think that the judgment day that separates us from heaven or hell is not dependent upon whether you agree with the president or not, so I do not think that it is the official position,” he said. 

Short’s comments come a day after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said there was “a special place in hell” for Trudeau and accused the Canadian leader of being dishonest with President Trump at the Group of Seven (G-7) meeting in Quebec last week.

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” Navarro told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

“That’s what bad faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That’s what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did, and that comes right from Air Force One,” he continued.  “To my friends in Canada, that was one of worst political miscalculations of a Canadian leader in modern Canadian history.” 

Trump on Saturday said the U.S. would not sign the G-7 communique, and U.S. officials suggested Trudeau had double-crossed the president by saying one thing in private and another publicly.

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” the president said in a tweet.

Trudeau’s office said the prime minister had been consistent and level with Trump during the summit.

“The Prime Minister said nothing he hasn’t said before — both in public, and in private conversations with the President,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.