Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada dismissed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s suggestion that he had retracted his assertion that President Trump had created an irrevocable “rupture” to the world order.
The Canadian leader spoke to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, the day after Mr. Bessent said on Fox News that he was in the Oval Office while Mr. Carney “was very aggressively walking back some of the unfortunate remarks” he had made at the World Economic Forum in Davos during a telephone call with Mr. Trump.
In that speech, Mr. Carney, though he did not specifically name Mr. Trump was clear in his intent, calling on the world’s middle powers to stop accommodating the United States just “to go along to get along,” and to instead band together to counter its political and economic power.
Asked on Tuesday if he had rescinded any of his remarks while speaking with Mr. Trump, Mr. Carney said “No.”
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” Mr. Carney told reporters, referring to the Swiss ski resort town where the gathering of billionaires, investors, executives and politicians was held last week.
He added: “It was clear. It was a broader set of issues, and Canada was the first country to understand the change in U.S. trade policy that he initiated, and we’re responding to that.” Mr. Carney added that during their conversation on Monday, the president had “understood’’ Canada’s position.
Last week Mr. Carney warned other middle powers that they faced potential danger if they do not stand up for their own interests and push back against Mr. Trump’s aggressive economic moves.
“Middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” he said.
His remarks received an unusual standing ovation and were widely praised around the world and stood in stark contrast to Mr. Trump’s long and rambling address at Davos.
In the aftermath of Mr. Carney’s speech, Mr. Trump revoked his invitation to Canada for membership on his Gaza “Board of Peace,” though Mr. Carney had not fully committed to the project.
Mr. Carney arrived in Switzerland after striking a trade deal with China that will allow a small number of Chinese electric vehicles to enter Canada at a low tariff rate. During the Biden administration, Canada joined the United States and imposed a 100 percent tariff on Chinese E.V.s.
Initially, Mr. Trump seemed to bless Mr. Carney’s agreement with China, saying, “That’s OK, that’s what he should be doing.”
But later, on social media, he threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on Canadian exports “If Canada makes a deal with China.”
Mr. Carney has repeatedly said that Canada has no plan to seek a broader free trade deal with China.
“I explained to him our arrangement with China,” Mr. Carney said of his conversation with Mr. Trump on Tuesday. “I explained to him what we’re doing: 12 new deals on four continents in six months — he was impressed.”
On Tuesday Canada and India released a joint statement about expanding trade in Canadian oil and natural gas. Mr. Carney is scheduled to travel to India next month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Monday Mr. Carney suggested that Mr. Trump’s latest tariff threat was a negotiating tactic ahead of a review of the free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.
“The president is a strong negotiator and I think some of these comments and positioning should be viewed in the broader context of that,” Mr. Carney said at a news conference.
Ian Austen reports on Canada for The Times. A Windsor, Ontario, native now based in Ottawa, he has reported on the country for two decades. He can be reached at [email protected].
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