After winning in last week’s election with a promise to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade and sovereignty threats, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had his first high-stakes meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
In front of the cameras in the Oval Office, the two men appeared friendly, with no sign of the kind of animus seen during the now-infamous dustup between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the U.S. president in that same room back in February. But although Trump congratulated Carney on his victory and insisted that “regardless of anything, we’re going to be friends with Canada,” neither side appeared willing to make immediate concessions to improve the two countries’ rapidly deteriorating bilateral relations.
At the top of the agenda was the U.S. trade war on Canada. Since taking office, Trump has imposed a slew of tariffs on Canadian goods, including steel and aluminum. When asked by a reporter if there is anything that Carney can say today to change Trump’s mind, Trump remained absolute: “No. That’s the way it is.”
Among the most inflammatory statements of Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting, though, were the two leaders’ comments on Canadian sovereignty. Trump reiterated that he still wants to make Canada the 51st U.S. state. He stressed his history as a real estate developer, referred to the U.S.-Canada border as an “artificially drawn line,” and joked about his past behavior of referring to former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor.”
In response, Carney doubled down on his opposition to Canadian statehood. “As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale,” Carney told Trump, adding that Ottawa is “not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever.”
“Never say never” was Trump’s response.
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