Sitting next to President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney got the clip he wanted Canadians to see: him telling Trump that Canada is “not for sale.” But over the course of the 33-minute exchange in front of reporters in the freshly gilded Oval Office, Carney had to wait patiently as Trump repeatedly made lengthy pitches for why Canada should be the US’s 51st state.
It was a meeting that Trump repeatedly described as “friendly” but his words told a different story. The awkward tone was set moments before the tête-à-tête began, as Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. was giving Canada “FREE Military Protection” and that the U.S. doesn’t need energy, lumber from Canada or cars built there. “We don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain,” Trump wrote.
It was Carney’s first visit to the White House since he led the Canadian Liberal Party last week to victory over the Conservatives to run the government. Trump opened the meeting by calling Carney a “very good person” and complimented him on his race, noting that Carney’s Liberal Party had previously been behind in the polls. Trump called Carney’s win “one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.” Carney returned the compliments, saying Trump was a “transformational president” and praising Trump’s “relentless focus on the American worker, securing your borders” as well as ending the “scourge of fentanyl” and “securing the world.”
But Carney started to shift uncomfortably when Trump was asked if he still believes Canada should be the 51st US state. Trump argued Canadians would pay lower taxes and have better security and better health care,if they joined the US.
Carney was ready with a response that tried to appeal to Trump’s experience buying and selling buildings. “As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale. The one we’re sitting in right now. You know, Buckingham Palace, which you visited as well. And having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign last several months, it is not for sale—won’t be for sale, ever. But the opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together.”
Carney said his government is committed to increasing its investment in Canada’s security and working to defend the Arctic. But later on in their meeting, Trump came back to his conviction that one day Canada would become part of the US. “Never say never,” Trump said, at which point, Carney could be seen mouthing the word “never” five times as reporters shouted questions.
In justifying his push for expanding the U.S., Trump described himself as “artistic” and liking the shape of the larger border when the two countries are joined on a map. “This is not necessarily a one-day deal. This is over a period of time they have to make that decision,” Trump said.
Carney jumped in. “Respectfully, Canadians’s view on this is not going to change—on the 51st state.”
Since he came to office, Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum exports from Canada and 25% tariffs on cars and some auto parts. Tariffs on several other resources including potash used in crop fertilizers are at 10%. In retaliation, Canada set targeted 25% tariffs on beer, orange juice, peanut butter, wine and spirits and appliances and other goods.
The two countries plan to negotiate those rates in a sweeping talks that could also reopen the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in July 2020. Trump said Tuesday that he’d be willing to eliminate the USMCA altogether. “We do have a negotiation coming up over the next year or so to adjust it or terminate it,” Trump said. For his part, Carney described USMCA as the basis for “a broader negotiation” and said “some things about it are going to have to change.”
As Trump continued to insist that Canada could one day merge with the U.S., the American President seemed to sense there was a risk this meeting could turn into a full-blown confrontation like the now infamous Oval Office meeting in February, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to agree to a ceasefire with Russia without security guarantees from the U.S.
“This is very friendly,” Trump said, as if saying the word itself would make it so. “This is not going to be like–we had another little blow up with somebody else—that was a much different thing. This is a very friendly conversation.”
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