In a nod to being neighbours and a bow to tradition, President Bush welcomes his first foreign leader to the White House today - the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Jean Chretien.
"Canada, of course, is our nation's No 1 trade partner," the presidential spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, said. "And the purpose of the meeting is to have a get-to-know, get-acquainted session."
Mr Bush, the former Republican governor of Texas whose short political career has been built largely around his personal skills, has never met Mr Chretien, a liberal.
The White House may have inadvertently irritated Canadians by announcing that Mr Bush would make his first foreign trip to the United States' southern neighbour, Mexico, for talks with President Vicente Fox.
Having met several times, Mr Bush and Mr Fox enjoy an established personal rapport and share a special interest in that they both own ranches. Mr Bush telephoned Mr Fox to congratulate him on his election late last year but did not make a similar call to Mr Chretien when he was re-elected in November.
Both US and Canadian officials played down the idea of competition between Canada and Mexico for Mr Bush's attention, but Mr Chretien appeared to lend some credence to the rivalry by telling the Canadian parliament last week: "I will be the first leader to meet with the President of the US since he is President."