WASHINGTON—Trade with Canada is so fair and balanced, U.S. President Donald Trump told his Mexican counterpart in January, that “we do not even think about them.”

Trump made the remarks in a phone call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Jan. 27, a week after his inauguration.

A transcript of the call was obtained by the Washington Post and published on Thursday, just under two weeks before the beginning of negotiations on revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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“Well, Canada is no problem — do not worry about Canada, do not even think about them,” Trump said after Pena Nieto made reference to the “three countries” that are part of NAFTA. “That is a separate thing and they are fine and we have had a very fair relationship with Canada. It has been much more balanced and much more fair. So we do not have to worry about Canada, we do not even think about them.”

Those private words were in line with Trump’s public words during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Washington three weeks later, when Trump called the trade relationship with Canada “very outstanding.” But they went even further, suggesting Trump’s frequent campaign complaints about NAFTA were solely focused on Mexico.

Trump, perhaps seeking negotiating leverage, has since started talking tougher about Canada. In April, he railed against Canada over an arcane dairy dispute and slapped tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.

“People don’t realize Canada’s been very rough on the United States. Everyone thinks of Canada being wonderful and civil,” he said in April. “I love Canada. But they’ve outsmarted our politicians for many years, and you people understand that.”

Dan Ujczo, an Ohio-based trade lawyer focused on Canada-U.S. issues, said Trump talking up Canada to the president of Mexico was in line with a “lifelong negotiating tactic.”

“We have witnessed that this is a president whose modus operandi is to pit parties against each other in any negotiation, whether on staff, his Cabinet, or members of Congress,” Ujczo said. “This could be relevant on areas where Canada’s and Mexico’s interests diverge, such as in agriculture.”

Canada did not come up again in the January call. In the most noteworthy portion, Trump pleaded with Pena Nieto to stop publicly saying that Mexico would not pay for Trump’s border wall — and promised Pena Nieto that the funding would “come out in the wash” and “work out in the formula somehow.”

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Trump, asking Pena Nieto to help fight the “tough hombres” behind Mexico’s drug trade, also declared the state of New Hampshire a “drug-infested den.”

NAFTA talks begin in Washington on Aug. 16. Trump’s administration has issued a lengthy wish list of desired changes that would affect Canada on issues from telecommunications to online shopping.

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