Barack and Justin: it’s true bromance, but with an expiration date

When US President Barack Obama welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a state visit to the White House, it was like looking back in time seven years.

Like Obama, Trudeau, a charismatic young politician with a liberal vision, rode a wave of idealism to the nation’s highest office only to quickly learn it’s not easy trying to turn campaign slogans into real changes.

The leaders — one just coming into office and one getting ready to leave office — have so much in common that Twitter quickly declared the fledgling relationship a “bromance.”

“Being able to draw on his experience and his wisdom as I face the very real challenges that our countries, and indeed our world, will be facing in the coming years is something that I appreciate deeply,” Trudeau said at a news conference in the Rose Garden.

Interest in the dashing young Trudeau reached fever pitch when he and wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau donned formal attire to join the Obamas at a state dinner in the East Room of the White House on Thursday night.

Obama has said that seeing Trudeau on his election night in October reminded him of his own win in 2008, and his aides say the two leaders are developing a “special relationship” based on their ages, visions and goals. From their first meeting, foreign policy analysts say, the men dismissed with formality and began addressing each other as “Barack” and “Justin.”