Donald Trump is the KKK-endorsed, torture-approving, wall-building, authoritarian protectionist who may be compromised by the Russians. Remember that fact.

In contrast, Canada’s Prime Minister has built considerable political currency among US progressives. He calls himself a feminist. And our compassion for Syrian war refugees is a beacon of freedom compared to Trump’s dark and Islamophobic travel ban.

A Washington Post columnist even recently proclaimed Trudeau a “leader of the liberal global resistance to President Trump.”

Yet last week, conservative news media loved playing images of the liberal Canadian PM meeting Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump, his daughter.

You see, Trudeau gave the US President an incredible, priceless gift: images, video and news stories of Donald Trump sitting with him at a roundtable of a dozen CEO-level businesswomen. An image of equality and liberality.

And Trump added enlightened words. “In order to create economic growth and well-paying jobs we must ensure the economy is a place where women can work and thrive,” he told the roundtable with as much progressive smooth as Trudeau might offer.

Also at the table was Ivanka Trump, the President’s daughter. Ms Trump is not a White House official. Nor a member of the women’s CEO roundtable. Her role was to sit beside our PM. And the images of a handsome man beside a seemingly smitten woman have generated a torrent of social media memes. All by design.

Amid the images of Justin and Ivanka, conservative Fox News told a story. “She has provided a strong voice for businesswomen and working women,” reported Fox. She’s been working to “level the playing field” for women entrepreneurs, small business owners and workers.

Even more. Ivanka Trump has “influenced” her father’s “comprehensive child-care plan” which includes a “paid (maternity) leave policy…beyond the traditional reach of the Republican Party platform.”

The words and imagery made the point – forget Trump the vile sexist. Look here – he’s practically a feminist. And if he’s not there yet, Ivanka is certainly moving him in that direction.

And according to many media reports, it was our PM’s office that proposed the women’s roundtable. No wonder American progressives have gone silent. They’re seething.

Then Trudeau jetted to France to meet Antonio Tajani, the President of the European Parliament. Tajani is an MEP for Forza Italia – the right-wing party of billionaire Silvio Berlusconi, the Trump prototype. Sitting beside Tajani, Trudeau once again shined-up Trump’s image.

He talked about his White House visit. “What I saw from the American president was a focus on getting things done for the people who supported him and who believe in him, while demonstrating that good relations with one’s neighbours is a great way of getting things done.”

Good relations. Getting things done. Anyone believing this?

At nearly the exact same time, here on planet reality, Trump was leading a chaotic press conference about nuclear holocaust, torpedoing Russian ships and fake news. Yet Trump, like Trudeau, insisted his administration was “a fine-tuned machine.”

Look, no one should want Trudeau to be rude or disagreeable with Trump. But let’s not help him. Trump is an economic and social threat to Canada. He’s a threat to democratic America. Canada should be working with like-minded nations to constrain him.

Shining-up Trump’s image and undermining US progressives is against our interests – unless you can’t see past next quarter’s profit report.

Tom Parkin is a former NDP staffer and social democrat media commentator