After feuding, a pally Trump and Trudeau say they’ve made progress on Nafta at G-7

Despite weeks of harsh rhetoric aimed at European leaders, an upbeat President Trump said Friday that he and America’s closest allies had made progress on the first day of the Group of Seven meeting in Canada.

“Our relationship is very good. We’re actually working on cutting tariffs and making it all very fair for both countries. And we’ve made a lot of progress today. We’ll see how it all works out,” he said, referring specifically to Canada.

“It could be that Nafta will be a different form. It could be with Canada, with Mexico, one-on-one,” the U.S. president added. “Much simpler agreement, much easier to do. The relationship is probably better, as good or better, as it’s ever been.”

During a brief meeting with reporters at the Quebec resort where the G-7 leaders gathered, Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — who had been at each other’s throats for a week — even shared a few jokes.

“Justin has agreed to cut all ­tariffs,” Trump said, causing Trudeau to laugh.

Trudeau responded, “I’d say Nafta is in good shape,” and they both cracked up.

Asked whether he thought the leaders could agree on a joint statement, Trump said, “I think we’ll have a joint statement.”

Trudeau didn’t answer when a reporter asked him if he was happy Trump would be leaving the gathering early for a planned summit next week with Kim Jong Un.

But a grinning Trump answered for him: “He’s happy,” he cracked.

Trudeau then turned serious.

“Obviously, trade has been a topic of discussion and will continue to be, but our engagement towards the world, our working together to create good jobs on both sides of the border,” were also important, he said.

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel floated an idea to set up a mechanism to resolve trade battles with the U.S. and prevent future ones, according to a French official at the gathering.

Merkel’s proposal was strongly supported by other leaders at the meeting, the official said, adding that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was ready to invest personally in it.

Check out: Why Trump is targeting G-7 nations on trade

The tone was much different than Trump’s earlier in the day.

“We’re going to deal with the unfair trade practices,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before leaving for the summit. “If you look at what Canada, and Mexico, the European Union — all of them — have been doing to us for many, many decades. We have to change it. And they understand it’s going to happen.”