Canadian Prime Minister justin trudeau arrived in Washington on Monday to meet with 45th United States President Donald Trump for the first time. The two have been scheduled for a formal lunch and a round-table meeting to discuss women's issues.

Trudeau and Trump to discuss trade, jobs

Prime Minister Trudeau, who was elected in 2015 to a majority government in Parliament, has distanced himself from many of Trump's comments on the campaign trail and since becoming President. The two are very distant on ideology -- Trudeau is welcoming in both rhetoric and practice of free trade, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and foreign investment; whereas President Trump is very well-known for his isolationist, protectionist views and agenda.

Trudeau represents a return in Canadian governance to "sunny ways," epitomized best by his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, whereas Trump carries a much more pessimistic, nigh-apocalyptic view of global affairs. The two are very distant on their social views as well -- Trump has taken anti-immigration, pro-life stances where Trudeau has welcomed refugees to Canada personally and described himself as a feminist.

Prime Minister Trudeau stated that while he would be assertive in the meeting of Canadian values, he would look for areas of cooperation and mutual benefit. Experts have suggested some areas of mutual interest to both Trudeau and Trump might be cooperation on border and cyber-security, infrastructure projects, and joint ventures on energy projects, such as the Keystone XL pipeline. Trudeau's government supports the pipeline, which has been green-lit by President Trump following a veto by his predecessor President Barack Obama.

Trudeau receives domestic input before meeting

Prior to meeting with Trump, Trudeau received input from leaders of both of Canada's other major political parties. Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose wrote Trudeau a letter regarding the meeting, where she emphasized her support for a strong US-Canada relationship. However, New Democratic Party leader Tom Mulcair urged Trudeau to stand up for Canadian values and reject President Trump's recent executive order on immigration.