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WASHINGTON — The most famous street in Washington is lined with Canadian flags. People are trying to finagle invitations to witness a Haley’s Comet-type rarity in international relations: a political celebrity from Canada.

And somehow, in the midst of all this, amid the pomp and preparation for the first U.S. state dinner for a Canadian in 19 years, and the even rarer show of interest in Justin Trudeau, and the decorations along Pennsylvania Avenue, one unavoidable, inescapable name looms behind the fluttering red-and-white flags.

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TRUMP.

That name stands out, in all-caps of course, on billboards at the new hotel project being developed on Pennsylvania Avenue by the ubiquitous real-estate titan who happens to be the Republican presidential front-runner.

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Trudeau was asked about him this week and tried avoiding the subject. It’s fair to assume he’ll be asked again during his three-day visit starting Wednesday.