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Trudeau's Three Amigos Small Talk With Obama Is Delightfully Awkward

What do you say to the most powerful person on the planet?

It can't be easy making small talk with the most powerful person on the planet.

So when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found himself in that situation Wednesday, he evidently decided to note how Canadians and Americans spell some words differently.

U.S. President Barack Obama talks to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the North American Leaders' Summit working session at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa on June 29, 2016.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

According to a report from the White House press pool covering a working session at the "Three Amigos Summit" in Ottawa, Trudeau told an anecdote about their name tags.

"A little interesting thing, Barack, I noticed on your name tag, they spell honorable with no 'U' and on mine, they put a U in 'honourable,'" Trudeau said.

From the report:

Sadly, reporters were ushered out of the room before they could catch Obama's response. Katie Telford, the prime minister's chief of staff, later took to Twitter to say the conversation "didn't stop there."

Of course, it remains a mystery why Trudeau and Obama would need name tags in the first place.

Trudeau and Obama were joined at the session by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other cabinet ministers from all three countries.

A little later, Trudeau pulled off the rare double-handshake with Obama and Peña Nieto during a "family photo" at the National Gallery of Canada.

That exchange wasn't the only colour that journalists were able to capture Wednesday.

Shortly after Trudeau greeted his U.S. counterpart in the morning with a hug, Obama could be heard complimenting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

"It’s good to see Mounties around," Obama said. "It always make me feel safe."

With a file from The Canadian Press

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