Mr. Carney Goes To Washington

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with President Trump in Washington D.C., and while the two have spoken on the phone, this was their first face-to-face meeting.  This was also the first major diplomatic meeting for Canada’s newly elected leader.

Carney was diplomatic, holding his own against Trump’s rhetoric about annexing Canada, a subject that came up early in the Oval Office meeting.  Carney stated there was only interest in a business partnership when Trump suggested that a merger, or marriage of sorts, would be good for Canada.

"I do feel it’s much better for Canada. It would be a wonderful marriage," Trump said.

"There are some places that are never for sale. And, having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign, it’s not for sale, ever. The opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together," Carney said.

While he might be a newly minted politician, Carney is first an economist, and that came out in the meeting, although Donald Trump seemed to dismiss the Prime Minister’s facts and figures.  Carney said that every car and truck built in Canada is, inherently, 50% American in its makeup.  And using the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s own data, Carney stated that Canada is America’s single largest customer, buying more than $440 billion worth of U.S. goods and services in 2024.

"“We are the largest client of the United States in the totality of all the goods. We have a tremendous auto sector between the two of us. 50% of a car that comes from Canada is American. That’s not like anywhere else in the world," Carney said.

“See, the conflict is, we don’t want cars from Canada," Trump responded.  "And we don’t want steel from Canada. And we don’t want Canadian aluminum, and various other things, because we want to be able to do it ourself.”

In the end, the meeting was a cordial introduction of the leaders of two countries that don’t seem to know each other very well these days.  Speaking on the lawn of the Canadian embassy in Washington later in the day, the Prime Minister said that the day’s meeting had defined a new relationship between Canada and the U.S.  And Carney bluntly stated that any relationship will be based on how the two countries can, or cannot, build a secure and cooperative economic future.

“Today marked the beginning of the United States and Canada redefining that relationship of working together," Carney said.  "The question is how we will cooperate in the future. How we can build an economic and security relationship, built on mutual respect, that delivers transformational benefits? We agreed to have further conversations in the coming weeks, and we are looking forward to meeting at the G7 summit in Kananaskis in Alberta.”

President Trump is expected to attend the G7 Summit, which Canada will host in mid-June.

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