WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Canada’s new prime minister Tuesday was far less confrontational than his interactions with the country’s previous leader, Justin Trudeau, even as Mark Carney reiterated that there is no way the country will become part of the United States.
“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale," said Carney, a former banker, as Trump chimed in to agree. “We’re sitting in one right now, Buckingham Palace, you visited, as well, and having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign last several months, it’s not for sale. Won’t be for sale ever.”
Asked later what was going through his mind during Trump's remarks inside the Oval Office, Carney said, "I'm glad that you couldn't tell what was going through my mind."
"The president has made known his wish about that issue for some time," Carney told reporters at the Canadian Embassy in downtown Washington about Trump's machinations involving taking control of Canada. "I've been careful always to distinguish between wish and reality. I was clear there in the Oval Office, as I've been clear throughout on behalf of Canadians, that this is never going to happen. Canada is not for sale. It never will be for sale."
Carney told reporters he asked Trump to stop saying he wants Canada to become the 51st state.
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The two leaders complimented each other multiple times during the meeting, a stark contrast from Trump's icy relationship with Trudeau, whom he regularly taunted as "Governor Trudeau."
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Trump praised Carney.
"I like him. You know, he’s a nice man. We get along very well. We had a great meeting today. Really good. I think the relationship’s going to be very strong," Trump said of the prime minister.
But it remains to be seen whether the comity will last and whether Carney will be able to use the initial goodwill to turn down some of Trump’s pressure when it comes to trade and Canada’s sovereignty.
Even as Carney insisted his country wouldn’t ever be for sale, Trump replied, “Never say never.”
Trump also told reporters that there was nothing Carney could say at their meeting that would persuade him to lift the tariffs. Asked why, he said, “That’s just the way it is.”
Carney told reporters later that the two leaders had a "very constructive meeting." He added, "I feel better about the relations."
“He understands that we’re having a negotiation between sovereign nations and that we will only pursue and accept a deal that’s in the best interest of Canada,” Carney said. “Not just in the short term, but in the medium and long term for Canada.”
The heightened tensions following Trump's sweeping tariffs on Canada have sparked a wave of anti-American government sentiment that contributed to Carney’s electoral victory last month.
At the start of leaders’ remarks to journalists, Trump said hat he had “a lot of respect” for Carney, and Carney praised Trump’s hospitality and leadership.
“We’re going to be friends with Canada,” Trump said, striking a friendlier tone with the country that attracted his ire over the past several months.
In a victory speech shortly after his Liberal Party claimed victory last week, Carney argued that Trump's comments about Canada becoming a 51st state were "not idle threats."
"President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never, ever happen," Carney told supporters.
Shortly before the two leaders were set to meet, Trump fired off a Truth Social post criticizing Canada and claiming the United States doesn't "need ANYTHING they have other than their friendship."
“We don’t need their Cars, we don’t need their Energy, we don’t need their Lumber, we don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain,” Trump wrote. “They, on the other hand, need EVERYTHING from us! The Prime Minister will be arriving shortly and that will be, most likely, my only question of consequence.”
The United States imports hundreds of billions in goods from Canada, including auto parts, crude oil, lumber and aluminum.
The tariffs, along with Trump's repeated comments about annexing the sovereign nation, have touched off a wave of anti-American sentiment in Canada.
Hockey fans in Canada have booed the American national anthem before games. Some Canadians began boycotting U.S. products. And after the Trump administration hit Canada with tariffs, Canadian politicians fired back with tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump had argued that tariffs on Canada and Mexico were necessary in part to push them to crack down on fentanyl's entering the United States from their shared borders. Out of the 21,900 pounds of fentanyl U.S. authorities seized on the border in fiscal year 2024, only 43 pounds were seized on the northern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
On Monday, Carney posted a video to X of him arriving in the United States, writing that "Canada and the United States are strongest when we work together — and that work starts now."
