People think Justin Trudeau just 'hard launched' Katy Perry relationship

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry were just spotted on their most formal outing yet as they finally 'hard-launched' their relationship.

Earlier this week (3 December), Trudeau, 53, paid a visit to former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko.

However, what really caught people's attention was the fact that he was accompanied by none other than the 41-year-old 'Fireworks' singer, who was referred to as his 'partner'.

Kishida shared a snap of the foursome along with a caption. The translated post reads: "Former Canadian Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau visited Japan with his partner and joined my wife and me for lunch.

"During his time as prime minister, we met multiple times as fellow leaders, and when I visited Canada, we worked together to strengthen bilateral relations, including formulating the 'Japan-Canada Action Plan,' sweating it out side by side."

Fans are obsessed with the way Justin Trudeau 'hard-launched' his relationship with Katy Perry (X/@‌kishida230)

Kishida concluded: "I am delighted that we continue to maintain this friendship in this way."

Trudeau promptly replied to the post, writing: "Great to see you @kishida230. Katy and I were so glad to have the chance to sit down with you and Yuko. Thank you, Fumio, for your friendship and your continued commitment to both the international rules-based order and to a better future for everyone."

After catching sight of the snaps, fans couldn't help but rush to social media to share their excitement, with one X user questioning: "Did Justin just hard launch Katy?"

"Losing my mind at Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau's hard launch," quipped a second while a third chimed in: "This might be the craziest hard launch in the history of the free world."

Katy was referred to as Trudeau's 'partner' in the X post (X/@JustinTrudeau)

Another made the astute observation: "Taylor hard launched Travis in a pic with Prince William, Justin and Katy hard launched in a pic with the prime minister of Japan... obsessed with the trend of pop girlies hard launching like politicians."

And a final X user gushed: "If you told me a few years ago that Justin Trudeau would hard launch his relationship with Katy Perry on Twitter, I would laugh at you."

The pair have been romantically linked since July of this year (Sergione Infuso - Corbis / Contributor / Getty Images)

Trudeau and Katy, who confirmed her split from Orlando Bloom in July of this year, were spotted together for the first time that same month in July on what seemed to be a romantic dinner date, chowing down on lobster in Montreal.

Since then, the pair have been spotted on several occasions, with a source previously saying of Katy's new relationship with Trudeau: "They haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together as she’s on tour, but they’re constantly in contact — always FaceTiming and messaging each other.

"He can’t believe someone as glamorous as Katy is interested in him, whereas she’s flattered that such a respected politician wants to date her."