Canada's new PM Mark Carney meets with Trump amid trade war clash

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on May 6, 2025

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Canada’s newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney met Tuesday with President Donald Trump amid major tensions over the trade war and Trump’s push to annex the northern neighbor as a 51st state.

Carney, who won election last week on a platform of confronting Trump’s threats, sought to strike a more cordial tone in the planned face-to-face Oval Office meeting between leaders of the two longtime close allies.

The two leaders showered praise on one another before the closed-door meeting.

“Canada chose a very talented person, a very good person,” Trump said. “We have a lot of things in common.”

“You’re a transformational president,” Carney responded. “I’ve been elected similarly to transform Canada.”

Carney squirmed a bit as Trump riffed on his contentious plan to make Canada the 51st U.S. state.

“There are some places that are never for sale. Having met with the owners of Canada … it’s not for sale and it will never be for sale,” Carney said.

“Never say never,” Trump retorted with a smile. “Time will tell.”

Carney has stressed that he was elected to “stand up” to the mercurial U.S. president and that Canada is “in a once-in-a-lifetime crisis.” The former central banker said he expects “difficult” but “constructive” conversations.

Minutes before Carney’s arrival, Trump set a contentious tone by accusing Canada of freeloading on trade and the nations’ geopolitical alliance.

“We don’t need anything they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain. They, on the other hand, need everything from us,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

Trump told reporters on Monday that he wasn’t sure why Carney was visiting.

Minutes before Carney’s arrival, Trump set a contentious tone by accusing Canada of freeloading on trade and the nations’ geopolitical alliance.

“We don’t need anything they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain. They, on the other hand, need everything from us,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

Trump told reporters on Monday that he wasn’t sure why Carney was visiting.

Trump has frayed a decades-old alliance by saying he wants to make Canada the 51st U.S. state and levying steep tariffs against an essential partner in the manufacturing of autos and the supply of oil, electricity and other goods.

The widespread north-of-the-border outrage provoked by Trump’s bellicose rhetoric powered Carney’s Liberal Party to a stunning comeback victory over the right-wing opposition party.

Trump has repeatedly threatened that he intends to make Canada the “51st state” and says he is deadly serious. Just Sunday, Trump called the border an “artificial line” that prevents the two nations from forming a “beautiful country.”

Trump’s openly adversarial approach with allies and rivals alike has raised big questions for Carney and other world leaders on how to manage relations with Trump.

Some world leaders, such as the United Kingdom’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, engaged in a charm offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other hand, wound up getting into a shouting match with Trump after challenging his stance on the Russian invasion.

Trump says the U.S. doesn’t need anything from Canada even though corporations have worked for decades to integrate supply chains between the two nations.

Nearly 25% of the oil the U.S. consumes comes from the province of Alberta. Almost every state along the northern border, including upstate New York, relies heavily on trade with Canada.

Trump has also disparaged Canada’s military commitments despite a hand-in-glove partnership that stretched from from the beaches of Normandy in World War II to the fight against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.