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Any day now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s diplomatic mettle will be tested like never before when he comes face to face for the first time with the ever-mercurial President Donald Trump.

But what approach should Trudeau take, especially in the wake of the global backlash to Trump’s travel ban targeting people from seven Muslim-majority countries: pat-on-the-back conciliatory or principled and in-your-face?

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If Trudeau pushes too hard, some political observers say, he risks touching off Trump’s notoriously vengeful side — placing Canada on his ever-expanding “hit list” — and potentially jeopardizing our precious trading relationship.

But others say Trump’s unorthodox and unpredictable nature notwithstanding, Trudeau will need to drop the niceties and don the armour of a “moral leader” and take a more aggressive stance against Trump because it’s the right thing to do.

“There’s a great line from (John F.) Kennedy about hedging against what’s right in order to pursue power that fits,” said David Moscrop, a political scientist at UBC.