WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama is developing a “special relationship” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an administration official said on Tuesday.

Obama is hosting Trudeau for a three-day Washington visit that begins Wednesday. The trip will include an Oval Office meeting and a lavish White House state dinner, the first for a Canadian leader since 1997.

The Obama official, Mark Feierstein, said the two countries have always had a close relationship regardless of who has been in office. “That said,” he added, this particular president and prime minister have a budding bond.

“Both young leaders with similar missions. Both have a progressive vision of governing,” Feierstein, National Security Council senior director for the Western Hemisphere, said on a conference call with reporters.

“Both very much committed to the appropriate use of multilateral tools. Both committed to diversity. I think that there’s a coincidence, very much, in terms of the agendas that both administrations have. I think we’re seeing that reflected, for example, on the issues of climate change and refugees and other issues.”

The Obama officials provided few details on the expected outcome of the visit. They did hint that Obama and Trudeau will make an announcement on permitting pre-clearance of manufactured items at domestic factories, a move that would speed up the process of crossing the border. They also suggested that climate change would be a focus of the leaders’ conversations. The conference call included Obama’s special envoy on the file.

The officials dismissed the suggestion of a bilateral rift over Trudeau’s withdrawal of Canadian military jets from the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Daesh. Trudeau’s continued commitments on training and intelligence are “very much in line with the coalition’s needs,” said Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

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