Obama to Canadian PM: Call me Barack

When President Obama congratulated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his election victory earlier this year, he encouraged the 43-year-old leader to address him by his first name.

‘‘It’s very, very cool to have the president call up, and I say, ‘Hello, Mr. President.’ I’ve never met him,’’ Trudeau told The New York Times Magazine for a story published online Tuesday.

{mosads}The leader then reportedly dropped his voice to imitate Obama.

“‘Justin, I like to think of myself as a young politician. The gray hair caught up with me, and it’ll catch up with you. But calling me ‘Sir’ makes me feel old. Call me ‘Barack,'” Trudeau said. 

‘‘That’s going to take some getting used to,” Trudeau added to the Times.

The interview took place Nov. 10, days after the Liberal Party leader was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister. Trudeau and Obama met a week later during a trip the Philippines. 

Trudeau addressed the president by his first name in public remarks after their meeting, where Obama joked about telling him, “I had no gray hair when I was in your shoes seven years ago.

“I don’t dwell on the gray hair, because there’s nothing I can do about that,” said Trudeau. “But what Barack pointed out to me about how fast his daughters grew in the seven years since that first night of his electoral victory really struck home for me.”