Barack Obama And Justin Trudeau Trade Affectionate Jabs During State Dinner

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau at the first state dinner held for a Canadian leader in 19 years.

And through all the grand pomp and ceremony that surrounds an official state dinner at the White House, both political powerhouse couples were relaxed and clearly enjoyed the evening. President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau, in fact, exchanged affectionate jabs towards each other and their home countries throughout the visit.

During the opening of the toast President Obama said, “We intend to have fun tonight. But not too much. If things get out of hand, remember that the Prime Minister used to work as a bouncer. Truly.”

Prime Minister Trudeau did indeed work as a bouncer at one time.

President Obama hearkened back in time to when Trudeau’s own father was the prime minister of Canada, and the president of the United States — Richard Nixon — made a trip to Ottawa, where he was hosted by then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

“So tonight, history comes full circle. Forty-four years ago, President Nixon made a visit to Ottawa. And he was hosted by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. At a private dinner, there was a toast. ‘Tonight, we’ll dispense with the formalities,’ President Nixon said, ‘I’d like to propose a toast to the future Prime Minister of Canada — Justin Pierre Trudeau.’

He was four months at the time.”

Obama added that the Trudeau may very well be “the most popular Canadian named Justin,” taking a brief poke at pop star Justin Bieber, who also hails from Canada.

After explaining that he owes Canada a debt of gratitude since his own brother-in-law hails from there, and without him, his beautiful nieces would have never been born, Obama stressed that he wanted “our Canadian friends to feel at home.”

“So this is not a dinner, it’s supper. We thought of serving up some poutine. I was going to bring a two-four. And then we’d finish off the night with a double-double. But I had to draw the line at getting milk out of a bag — this, we Americans do not understand. We do, however, have a little Canadian whiskey. That, we do understand.”

President Obama then took the opportunity to poke some fun at the Republican nominees for president, referencing Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada, as well as Donald Trump and his desire to build a wall.

“This visit has been a celebration of the values that we share. We, as a peoples, are committed to the principles of equality and opportunity — the idea that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can make it if you try, no matter what the circumstances of your birth, in both of our countries. And we see this in our current presidential campaign. After all, where else could a boy born in Calgary grow up to run for President of the United States? Where else would we see a community like Cape Breton, Nova Scotia welcoming Americans if the election does not go their way? And to the great credit of their people, Canadians from British Columbia to New Brunswick have, so far, rejected the idea of building a wall to keep out your southern neighbors. We appreciate that. We can be unruly, I know.”

And then, on a much more serious note, President Obama spoke of the matters that he believes draws Canada and the United States even closer, and binds the two, as leaders, closely, as well.

“But there is a point to this, though, and that is that we’re not here for power. We’re not here for fame or fortune. We’re here for our kids. We’re here for everybody’s kids — to give our sons and our daughters a better world. To pass to them a world that’s a little safer, and a little more equal, and a little more just, a little more prosperous so that a young person growing up in Chicago or Montreal or on the other side of the world has every opportunity to make of their life what they will, no matter who they are or what they look like, or how they pray or who they love.”

In response, Prime Minister Trudeau said that the two countries are more than friends, that the two would be better compared to siblings. His response was warm, but also laced with humor as he highlighted both the commonalities and differences between the two nations.

“We have shared parentage, but we took different paths in our later years. We became the stay- at-home type — and you grew to be a little more rebellious. I think the reason that good will and commonsense comes so easily is because we are Canadians and Americans alike, guided by the same core values. Values like cooperation and respect. Cooperation because it keeps us safe and prosperous. And respect because it’s the surest path to both safeguarding the world we share and honoring the diverse people with whom we share it.”

The state dinner menu began with a “spiffed up and scaled back” version of the Canadian classic poutine, which normally consists of French fries, cheese curds and gravy. This version, however, was a more formal take on the dish and included shavings of smoked duck amid the cheese curds, then finished with a red wine gravy and served on delicate wafer fries as a one-bite canapé.

The rest of the menu relied on American ingredients, from the Alaskan halibut to the Butterscotch Swirl ice cream.

[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News]