Key Points: Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, May 6th, amid severely strained relations driven by Trump’s tariffs and “annex Canada” rhetoric.
-Carney firmly asserted Canadian sovereignty, stating “Canada is not for sale” in response to Trump’s continued musings about a US-Canada “marriage.”
-No resolution on tariffs was reached during the tense meeting, and Trump also cast doubt on extending the USMCA trade deal.
-The encounter underscored the challenging diplomatic path Carney faces in managing ties with an “erratic” US administration while defending Canadian interests.
What Is Donald Trump Doing?
Donald Trump, since returning to the presidency, has certainly taken an approach towards Canada that’s unprecedented, at least in the last century: Talking openly about wanting to make Canada America’s 51st state, while also stating on more than one occasion that he would like hockey great Wayne Gretzky to become Canada’s leader.
That, in addition to tariff actions that have been considerably more bellicose towards America’s neighbor to the north than has been the case in recent American history, has had a major impact on Canada’s politics: Late last month, the Liberal Party emerged victorious in Canada’s latest election, despite the long-standing anti-incumbency wave in western democracies, and the Conservative Party having led in the polls for most of the last year. It will therefore be the fourth consecutive term in which Canada is governed by the Liberal Party.
It was an election, perhaps needless to say, in which none of the parties were in support of the U.S. annexing Canada or making it the 51st state.
On Tuesday, Trump welcomed Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney for a White House meeting, one very different from most past meetings between American and Canadian leaders.
Carney Goes South
Carney, who became prime minister following Justin Trudeau’s resignation earlier this year and has now been elected to a full term, came to Washington on Tuesday and met with President Trump, per Axios.
Canada, Carney confirmed in the press availability after his meeting with Trump, “is not for sale.”
To that, Trump replied, “Never say never,” to which Carney replied, “never.”
Despite the flat no, Trump continued to wish for a marriage between the countries in the meeting.
“I do feel it’s much better for Canada, but we’re not going to be discussing that unless somebody wants to discuss it,” Trump said in the meeting. “It would really be a wonderful marriage.”
Trump, at one point, stated that he sees a combined U.S. and Canada as something that makes sense to him as a real estate developer, to which his Canadian counterpart replied, “as you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale.”
Tariff Talk
The two leaders also talked about the tariffs on Canada, and no understanding was reached that could lead to an agreement in that regard.
“Regardless of anything, we’re going to be friends with Canada,” Trump said during the meeting.
“This is a bigger discussion,” Carney said at the meeting. “There are much bigger forces involved, and this will take some time and some discussions, and that’s why we’re here, to have those discussions.”
Trump also said that he’s not sure he wants to extend United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was agreed to during his first term, after it expires next year.
Also in the meeting, bizarrely, Trump referred to Barack Obama’s presidential center as a “disaster.”
“It’s a disaster. And he said something to the effect, ‘I only want DEI. I only want woke,” Trump said, per CNN. “He wants woke people to build it. Well, he got woke people and they have massive cost overruns. The job is stopped. I don’t know, it’s a disaster.”
What Carney Will Do
The Guardian wrote a profile this week of Carney, an economist by trade who only recently became involved with elected politics; the prime ministership is the first elected office he has ever held, much as the presidency was for Trump when he was first elected.
The profile noted that when he called to congratulate Carney on his victory, Trump did not refer to Carney as “governor,” which is the name he used for Trudeau, as part of taunts about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Trump has also suggested that Gretzky be the governor of Canada-as-a-state.
“Standing up to the erratic US president – prone to dressing down allies on a whim – will be a key task for Carney,” The Guardian profile said, noting that in his victory speech and throughout his campaign, Carney had been adamant that Canada would remain a sovereign nation.
About the Author
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter
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