Prime Minister Mark Carney is greeted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the West Wing of the White House on Tuesday.Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press
05/06/25 17:12
Opinion: Carney channeled calm next to Trump’s chaos
– Lawrence Martin
With relations with the United States on a collision course, there was a lot of pressure on Prime Minister Mark Carney today.
But you’d never have realized it watching him in the Oval Office or later at the Canadian embassy press conference.
He appeared calm, measured, confident.
It’s a reason why Canadians elected him. For calm vs. chaos.
05/06/25 17:10
Trump calls meeting ‘great,’ says he hasn’t used ‘governor’ nickname with Carney
– The Associated Press
Carney and Trump meet in the Oval Office on Tuesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
U.S. President Donald Trump was asked if he would give Prime Minister Mark Carney the same “governor” nickname that he had put on Justin Trudeau. The nickname was a slight meant to imply that Canada’s leader would eventually be just one of many U.S. governors.
“As far as calling him Governor Carney, no, I haven’t done that yet, and maybe I won’t,” Trump said. “I did have a lot of fun with Trudeau. But I think this is a big step. It’s a good step up for Canada.”
Trump added that the meeting with Carney had been “great” and that he thought the relationship moving forward would be “strong.”
05/06/25 16:49
Fact-checking Trump’s trade-deficit comments at first meeting with Carney
- The Canadian Press
While Donald Trump and Mark Carney met with reporters at the White House, the U.S. President made a few dubious claims about Canada-U.S. relations, including about the trade deficit.
“We have a tremendous deficit with Canada,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s hard to justify subsidizing Canada to the tune of maybe US$200 billion a year.”
A trade deficit – when one country exports less to a partner nation than the partner exports to it – is not a subsidy, any more than buying a product at the store is a subsidy.
Even if it were, Mr. Trump’s US$200-billion figure strays far from the actual statistics. The trade deficit for goods and services stood at about US$45-billion in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And when goods alone are considered, Statistics Canada found that the country’s trade surplus with the U.S. last year was $102.3-billion.
05/06/25 16:46
U.S. equities close lower, as tariff uncertainty weighs
– Reuters
U.S. stocks were lower for a second straight session on Tuesday, as comments from U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provided little clarity to the timeline for any trade deals.
Mr. Trump said he and top administration officials will review potential trade deals over the next two weeks to decide which ones to accept. In addition, Mr. Trump met with Prime Minister Mark Carney for the first time, which yielded no immediate results.
Mr. Trump’s comments ran somewhat counter to earlier statements from Mr. Bessent, who said the administration could announce some trade agreements as early as this week.
05/06/25 16:16
‘Concrete’ discussions between Canada and U.S. can start now, Carney says
– Nathan VanderKlippe
Donald Trump has repeatedly said he favours the annexation of Canada and issued a series of unilateral edicts to undermine the free flow of trade in North America.
But in private, the U.S. President and his administration were prepared to engage in “concrete” discussions, Prime Minister Mark Carney said today.
“These are the discussions you have when you’re looking to find solutions as opposed to laying down terms,” he said.
For any future agreement between the two countries to succeed, he added, it must be seen as useful to both sides.
“The lesson would be, of this experience, is to ensure that the incentives are aligned — and durably so — between the two countries,” he said. ”And that is a way that agreements are self-reinforcing.”
05/06/25 16:02
Carney asked Trump to stop calling Canada the 51st state
– Nathan VanderKlippe
Mark Carney asked Donald Trump to stop calling Canada the 51st state in their first meeting since the Prime Minister was elected to office last week.
Mr. Carney declined to repeat the wording of his request but said Mr. Trump ”understands that we’re having a negotiation between sovereign nations.”
The Prime Minister said he distinguishes between “wish and reality,” suggesting there is a difference between Mr. Trump’s desire to annex Canada and the possibility of making that happen.
Mr. Carney, however, offered no assurances that Mr. Trump would abide by his request to temper his rhetoric.
“He’s the President,” Mr. Carney said. “He’s his own person.”
05/06/25 15:55
Carney speaks of the auto industry as just a Canada-U.S. affair
– Nathan VanderKlippe
The manufacture of vehicles in North America is a three-country affair. But Mark Carney made no mention of Mexico in describing his attempts to protect Canadian auto jobs.
Instead, Mr. Carney positioned Canada as a partner in supporting the success of U.S. automakers.
“Canadian auto workers, Canadian auto companies, Canadian parts companies, Canadian steel, Canadian aluminum all play an important role in enhancing the competitiveness of American auto companies,” he said.
“So we will continue to press that case.“
05/06/25 15:49
Carney wasn’t surprised that Trump rejected the idea of lifting tariffs
–Nathan VanderKlippe
Mark Carney said he was not surprised — “not at all” — that Donald Trump flatly rejected the idea of lifting tariffs on Canada.
“This is a very complex situation,” he told reporters this afternoon at the Canadian embassy in Washington.
Mr. Carney offered no sign that the two sides had come to any agreement save to engage in future talks.
“We had an exchange of views with respect to tariffs and strategic goals on the part of both Canada and the United States,” he said. “And there are a number of issues where we can advance that discussion. So there is a plan. And there is also a desire on the part of both countries.”
As for a timeline for the lowering of any tariffs, Mr. Carney said simply: “We’ll see how long it will take.”
05/06/25 15:43
The presser begins and Carney says he had a wide ranging talk with Trump
– Nathan VanderKlippe
Prime Minister Mark Carney said his talks with President Donald Trump in Washington were “wide-ranging” and “constructive.”
At a news conference this afternoon, he called the discussion “the end of the beginning of a process of the United States and Canada redefining that relationship of working together.”
The two sides agreed to further meetings in the coming weeks — and in person in Alberta at the G7 summit, Mr. Carney said.
“The question is how we will co-operate in the future. How we can build an economic security relationship built on mutual respect, built on common interests and that delivers transformational benefits to our economie
Watch Carney’s full comments after meeting with Trump
05/06/25 15:29
Ontario Premier believes Canada is in a better position after Carney and Trump meet
– Jeff Gray
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he thinks Prime Minister Mark Carney handled his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump well, calling it a good start.
“He held his own,” Mr. Ford told reporters at Queen’s Park. “I’ll tell you, it’s very obvious that President Trump likes Prime Minister Carney a lot more than he liked Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau. … It’s all about building a relationship, and I think this is a first step to something productive.”
The Premier said he believed Canada was “in a much better position” than before the meeting.
“I thought they were both respectful of each other. And I thought it was a warm greeting,” Mr. Ford said. “And I’m very confident that … it’s a good start to a long relationship and we’ll have a great relationship once again with the United States and the American people.”
Mr. Ford said talks continue between Ontario and U.S. officials but he had not talked to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “in a little while” and negotiations with the U.S. are “now a federal issue” for the Prime Minister.
“He has all the support of the premiers, and we need to move forward and make sure we stand united as a country,” Mr. Ford said.
05/06/25 15:25
Alberta’s Premier says Carney has his “work cut out for him” in negotiations with Trump
– Temur Durrani
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Prime Minister Mark Carney has his “work cut out for him” in negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump because of previous Liberal governments.
Ms. Smith told reporters in Edmonton that she blames former prime minister Justin Trudeau for what she described as a severed relationship between Washington and Ottawa.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that the relationship with the prior prime minister was very poor, and I think that led to a lot of the challenges that we’ve had over the last five or six months,” the Premier said at a news conference this afternoon.
“We’ll see if Prime Minister Mark Carney can reset that,” she added. “I’m really hopeful that, behind closed doors, they’ll be able to have a meeting of the minds and come out with an agreement to restart the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement.”
05/06/25 14:38
Mark Carney leaves the White House
– Globe staff
Prime Minister Mark Carney waves as he departs after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House.Leah Millis/Reuters
The Prime Minister has left the White House after attending a private luncheon with President Donald Trump. Up next: a news conference at the Canadian embassy.
05/06/25 13:40
Opinion: Trump’s not terribly subtle negotiating strategy at work
– Shannon Proudfoot
It seems relevant to point out, given that social media post that Donald Trump made just before meeting with Mark Carney, that there’s a (not terribly subtle) negotiating strategy at work here.
A few months ago, I read Mr. Trump’s book The Art of the Deal, along with a bunch of other pre-politics interviews with him, as well as watching some episodes of his TV show The Apprentice. I did this to try to understand more about how the President approaches deal-making – or at least how he says he does, which is often more important, because he treats it all as a show and dominance posture.
Even though Mr. Trump quite famously didn’t write The Art of the Deal in any way, his ghostwriter channelled him through extensive interviews and shadowing. There’s a quote in the book that is the obvious template for how the President is approaching the Prime Minister today, from pretending he doesn’t know why they’re meeting to pre-empting the conversation with a pugnacious approach to the trade negotiations:
“My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after,” he says in the book. “Sometimes I settle for less than I sought, but in most cases I still end up with what I want.”
05/06/25 13:35
Opinion: It’s critical that Carney and Trump maintain a good working relationship
– Lawrence Martin
On Canada-U.S. relations, you cannot underestimate the importance of the personal relationship between the president and prime minister.
It’s critical. I’ve researched them all. The better the leaders get along, the better the countries get along.
Very encouraging was the rapport today between Mark Carney and Donald Trump. Mr. Trump was respectful of Mr. Carney. He knows he’s dealing with a serious player. There was no personal animosity – and there well could have been, given previous comments by Mr. Carney.
On the very serious issue differences, both men held their ground.
Mr. Trump gave no sign of backing down.
But if personal relations are good, the differences can be managed.
05/06/25 13:34
What happens next? An hour-long lunch to discuss major issues such as tariffs
– Adrian Morrow
After hearing from U.S. President Donald Trump that nothing will change his mind on hitting Canada with tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney will have an hour-long lunch to try to do exactly that.
The two leaders’ Oval Office meeting was scheduled to be relatively short – a half hour – with the lunch occupying most of the schedule.
With a large contingent of cabinet ministers on both sides, it’s unclear how much direct conversation the pair will have. But it will be an opportunity for Mr. Carney to see if there are any concrete demands to base a negotiation on.
After the lunch, Mr. Carney will head to the Canadian embassy to address reporters.
05/06/25 13:03
Opinion: There were some uncomfortable moments between the two leaders
– Robyn Urback
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C.Leah Millis/Reuters
That probably went as well as possible for Mark Carney, and for Canada, but there were some uncomfortable moments. Mr. Carney looked at his lap when Donald Trump called former finance minister Chrystia Freeland a “terrible person” and accused her of trying to take advantage of the USMCA she helped negotiate. He had to listen to Mr. Trump talk about Canada paying tariffs on cars, steel and aluminum (Americans pay the tariffs, and the tariffs on auto parts have been dropped). And Mr. Trump cut things off before Mr. Carney could respond to his claim that the U.S. is “subsidizing” Canada to the tune of US$200-billion.
But overall, the mood was cordial and friendly. Mr. Carney shut down Mr. Trump’s 51st-state talk fairly unequivocally, and the President took it in stride. Considering what some other world leaders have endured while sitting in that chair, this could be considered a win.
05/06/25 13:02
Trump says he won’t lift tariffs on Canada
–Laura Stone
Toward the end of his 34-minute meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, U.S. President Donald Trump said nothing has changed his mind about lifting tariffs on Canada.
“No,” he said, it’s “just the way it is.”
He again said the idea of making Canada the 51st state is “not a one-day conversation.”
Mr. Carney interjected, saying Canadians’ views on that issue are never going to change.
Mr. Trump called the meeting “very friendly,” adding that he would not have “another little blow-up with somebody else,” seemingly referring his infamous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We want to make our own cars. We don’t really want cars from Canada,” Mr. Trump said. “We don’t want steel from Canada. We’re making our own steel.”
President Donald Trump says there is nothing Prime Minister Mark Carney could say that would move the needle on tariffs applied to Canada. During their meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Mr. Carney highlighted the deep trade ties between the countries, especially around autos.
The Canadian Press
05/06/25 12:48
Trump downplays Canadian boycotts of the U.S.
– Nathan VanderKlippe
Donald Trump played down Canadian boycotts of the U.S.
“Usually those things don’t last very long,” Mr. Trump said.
“We have great things, great product, the kind of product we sell nobody else can sell. Including military. We make the best military equipment in the world. And Canada buys our military equipment, which we appreciate.”
Canadian travel south of the border has declined considerably, hurting U.S. businesses. American companies, including in Florida, have joined lawsuits seeking to overturn Mr. Trump’s ability to use emergency powers to impose tariffs.
Mr. Trump, however, repeatedly said Canada needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs Canada. “Canada does a lot more business with us than we do with Canada,” he said.
05/06/25 12:45
Trump slams Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland
– Laura Stone
During his meeting, Mr. Trump seemed to criticize former prime minister Justin Trudeau and his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, who led the previous negotiations of the United States-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement.
“I didn’t like his predecessor,” Mr. Trump said to Mr. Carney, adding he “didn’t like a person that worked” for the previous prime minister, seemingly referring to Ms. Freeland.
“She was terrible. Actually, she was a terrible person, and she really hurt that deal very badly because she tried to take advantage of the deal and she didn’t get away with it,” he said.
Mr. Trump, however, said the USMCA is “fine” and good for certain things, as long as it benefits everyone. Mr. Carney later said the deal “is a basis for broader negotiation.”
“Some things about it are going to have to change,” Mr. Carney said, adding that the President’s tariffs have taken advantage of existing aspects of the trade deal.
05/06/25 12:43
Trump leaves door open to 51st state talk
– Laura Stone
Asked again if making Canada part of the U.S. is off the table, Trump said “time will tell.”
“But I say, never say never,” Trump said.
“I’ve had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable in a very friendly way.”
He said it’s to everyone’s benefit if Canada joined the U.S.
“You know, Canada loves us – and we love Canada,” the President said. “That’s the number one thing that’s important, but we’ll see.”
05/06/25 12:42
Trump calls USMCA “transitional step,” ponders necessity
– Nathan VanderKlippe
The United States.-Mexico-Canada Agreement – the bedrock of free trade in North America — is a “transitional step” that “terminates fairly shortly,” Donald Trump said today..
He called USMCA a positive step from its predecessor, NAFTA, but made no commitment to its renewal.
“We’re going to be starting to possibly renegotiate that,” he said, “if it’s even necessary. I don’t know that it’s necessary any more.”
05/06/25 12:40
Carney tells Trump that Canada is not for sale
– Laura Stone
Prime Minister Mark Carney told President Donald Trump that Canada will never be for sale. In an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday May 6, Mr. Trump repeated in front of Mr. Carney the reasons he thinks Canada should be America’s 51st state.
The Globe and Mail
Asked about his repeated comments about making Canada the 51st state, U.S. President Donald Trump said “it takes two to tango” but added that he believed Canada would get a “massive tax cut” if it joined the U.S., as well as enhanced military protection.
Calling himself a real estate developer at heart, Mr. Trump said it would be a “beautiful” pairing, and much better for Canada, but wouldn’t discuss it unless both sides agreed to do so.
“It would really be a wonderful marriage,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Carney interjected – shooting the idea down, saying that over the course of the election campaign he made that clear.
“It’s not for sale, won’t be for sale ever,” he said, adding that there’s an opportunity in the partnership of the two countries and what they can build together.
05/06/25 12:34
Trump calls Carney’s win ‘one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics’
– Laura Stone
U.S. President Donald Trump has welcomed Prime Minister Mark Carney into the Oval Office, calling it a “great honour” to have Mr. Carney at the White House.
He remarked on the recent Canadian election and praised the Prime Minister for leading the Liberal Party back to power.
“I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him,” Trump said about Carney, remarking that the Liberals under previous leader Justin Trudeau were losing in the polls.
“I really want to congratulate him. Probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics – maybe even greater than mine,” Mr. Trump said to laughter.
He said he also watched the campaign debate. “I think you were excellent,” the President said.
Mr. Carney, asked to address the room, joked that he was on the “edge of my seat.”
The Prime Minister thanked Mr. Trump for his leadership, calling him a “transformational president” who is focused on the economy, American workers and the border, particularly stopping fentanyl smuggling.
Mr. Carney said he was elected with a similar mandate to focus on the economy and securing the borders and the Arctic, adding that he looked forward to working with the U.S.
05/06/25 12:27
Trump and Carney will discuss Ukraine-Russia issues
– Nathan VanderKlippe
Donald Trump and Mark Carney will also discuss Ukraine-Russia issues, Mr. Trump said.
“Because Mark wants it ended as quickly as I do. I think it has to end,” he said.
The prospect of discussions on a critical international issue may provide the two leaders with common ground in talks that will likely be dominated by trade matters.
“We have some tough points to go over, and that will be fine,” Mr. Trump said.
05/06/25 12:00
Mark Carney arrives at the White House
– Nathan VanderKlippe
US President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Mark Carney has arrived at the White House for meetings with Donald Trump.
The two men shook hands, smiled and briefly raised their fists before entering the White House.
The U.S. President appeared to yawn as he waited for Mr. Carney’s motorcade to arrive.
The Prime Minister’s trip to Washington comes just eight days after his election win last week.
On election night, Mr. Carney said he intended to sit down with Mr. Trump “to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations.”
But he also warned that “President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us.”
“That will never ever happen,” he added.
05/06/25 11:48
Trump posts about ‘subsidizing’ Canada before Carney meeting
– Laura Stone
Shortly before his highly anticipated White House meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, President Donald Trump shared a social media post asking why the U.S. subsidizes Canada when it doesn’t need anything from its northern neighbour.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump repeated his falsehood about America “subsidizing” Canada to the tune of US$200-billion a year. For months he has alleged this is connected to the trade imbalance between the two countries as well as the military protection the U.S. supplies.
“I look forward to meeting the new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney. I very much want to work with him, but cannot understand one simple TRUTH — Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?” Trump wrote at 11:23 a.m., minutes before Mr. Carney was set to arrive at the White House.
“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. 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.”
President Donald Trump's truth social post prior to visit with Prime Minister Mark Carney on May 6, 2025.Supplied
05/06/25 11:31
Opinion: No White House has helped a Canadian government to victory like Trump for the Carney Liberals
– Lawrence Martin
The John F. Kennedy administration helped Lester Pearson’s Liberals defeat the John Diefenbaker Tories in 1963. But no White House has helped a Canadian government to victory the way Donald Trump did for the Carney Liberals. Mr. Trump could very well use this today, tossing barbs at the PM in front of the media like “I got you elected. You owe me.” That would test the Carney wit.
05/06/25 11:25
Lessons to be learned from world leaders’ visits to the Oval Office
– Doug Saunders
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a letter from Britain's King Charles as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office on February 27.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
In his quest to win U.S. President Donald Trump over to a comprehensive trade-and-security deal in today’s White House meeting, Prime Minister Mark Carney ought to pay close attention to the fate of his British counterpart, Keir Starmer.
One lesson in particular: Beware the guys sitting across from the President on the Oval Office couches.
The British Prime Minister spent months carefully planning his own Feb. 27 White House meeting, sending senior figures to “butter up” the mercurial President and even bringing along a personal letter from King Charles III.
That meeting was seen at the time as having gone well – Mr. Starmer avoided the humiliations bestowed on other leaders and emerged with a vague commitment for a free-trade deal and an agreement on defence that involved Ukraine.
Almost 10 weeks later, there’s no sign of a Britain-U.S. trade deal – reports suggest the White House has moved it onto the “back burner” – and Britain is now subject to an even heavier U.S. tariff burden than the European Union faces.
To make matters worse, the British proposal has been weighed down with non-trade issues dear to the hearts of White House figures other than Mr. Trump.
Vice-President JD Vance has insisted that Britain eliminate its laws against anti-gay discrimination if it wants a trade deal. Mr. Starmer made it clear he wouldn’t do that.
And this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio proposed to deport migrants to hotels in Rwanda paid for by Britain in a scheme devised by Mr. Starmer’s Conservative predecessors. The scheme cost £700-million and was cancelled by Mr. Starmer before it could be used.
Taking it over and making it American now appears to have eclipsed the trade deal in the minds of U.S. officials – especially those who sit stone-faced across from Mr. Trump during those Oval Office meetings.
05/06/25 11:20
American media, Congress’s support for Ottawa so far
– Lawrence Martin
“Trump’s trade war with Canada has blown up in his face” reads the headline on the CNN website. There’s no doubt how CNN sees the conflict, but that network is not representative.
There’s been some American media commentary supporting Ottawa on trade and sovereignty issues but not nearly as much as I would have expected given the disrespect with which Mr. Trump has treated Canada and the falsehoods he has deployed to back his case. The same can be said for Congress. In the House and the Senate the support for Ottawa has been mild, not enough to make Mr. Trump take notice.
05/06/25 11:16
Opinion: The White House is a circus - and I hope no one gets clawed in the face
- Robyn Urback
I’m Robyn Urback, a current affairs columnist here at The Globe. I have no expectations for what will come of this meeting, simply because the White House is a circus and caged tigers are notoriously unpredictable. I suppose my hope is that no one gets clawed in the face. Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team have done a good job of lowering expectations, so any actual deliverables coming out of this meeting will be an unexpected bonus.
05/06/25 11:14
Doug Ford weighs in on Carney’s visit to the White House
- Laura Stone
Hi, I’m Laura Stone, a reporter in The Globe’s Queen’s Park bureau.
Today, during a breakfast speech at a skilled trades competition in Toronto, Ontario Premier Doug Ford weighed in on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to the White House. The Premier expressed his opinion of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he previously publicly admitted he wanted to win the U.S. election.
“This guy drives me nuts,” Mr. Ford said. “You see this guy on TV, ‘We don’t need Canada.’ Really?” he said, adding that the U.S. needs high-grade nickel, potash, uranium and electricity from this country and that a number of governors “totally disagree” with Mr. Trump attacking Canada, a top ally.
Mr. Ford also made an apparent reference to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who made a televised address Monday about the growing frustration with Ottawa and a noisy separatist movement in her province.
“We have a Prime Minister down there and he’s going to be sitting down and he’s going to give it everything he can. This is a time to unite the country, not people saying, ‘Oh, I’m leaving the country,’” Mr. Ford said.
“United we stand, divided we fall. And we have to be united … to fight President Trump’s tariffs.”
Mr. Ford added that Mr. Trump’s approval ratings are tumbling in the face of the tariffs.
“I can’t wait for the midterms. Then we’ll fix his little red wagon.”
05/06/25 10:52
On the ground in Washington, D.C., from the White House
- Adrian Morrow
The scene this morning at the White House. At 11:30 a.m. ET, Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to roll up to this entrance to the West Wing, where U.S. President Donald Trump will greet him.
Adrian Morrow
05/06/25 10:41
Opinion: You never have to guess how the Trump White House wants you to see something
- Shannon Proudfoot
A view of the White House flanked by neighboring office buildings in Washington.Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Hi, I’m Shannon Proudfoot, a feature writer in The Globe and Mail‘s Ottawa bureau. I’m watching today’s Oval Office meeting from Ottawa, but in 2019 I was among the Canadian reporters who covered then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Washington under considerably less fraught circumstances.
What’s weird about visiting the White House is that it’s an instantly familiar place – like the set of a TV show you’ve watched a hundred times, which it sort of is. But in person it seems shrunken and slightly tawdry.
What also comes screaming through when you’re there, as I wrote at the time, is how the White House is the world as Donald Trump believes it should be: Everything revolves around him, and he is not just the star of the show but the reason the whole circus exists.
This is vastly more true now than it was in his first term, with the President now surrounded by knowing enablers, enacting a breakneck – and break-everything – policy agenda shielded by a brazen, wholesale reshaping of reality by way of controlling who gets to cover the White House.
We’ve already seen the President pretending he doesn’t know – the implication being that he doesn’t care and therefore has the upper hand, always – why Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting today, along with White House officials playing down the meeting as, yawn, just one item on today’s to-do list. You never have to guess how the Trump White House wants you to see something.
05/06/25 10:26
On the ground in Washington, D.C., from Blair House
- Steven Chase
Hi. My name is Steven Chase. I’m a reporter with The Globe and Mail who is accompanying Prime Minister Mark Carney to the White House today. Mr. Carney, who arrived Monday, stayed overnight at Blair House, an official residence across from the White House. You can see the Canadian flag flying above the entrance.
Steven Chase
05/06/25 10:16
Poilievre wishes Carney a ‘positive’ meeting with Trump
– Stephanie Levitz
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, criticized during the federal election campaign for not focusing enough on U.S. President Donald Trump and the trade war, is wishing Prime Minister Mark Carney a “positive meeting.”
Mr. Poilievre made the remarks as he headed into his first meeting with MPs since his party lost the election last week.
“We hope that the President will honour our sovereignty and signal an end to these tariffs. We think that there should be a deal as soon as possible to end the chaos,” he said.
“There’s too much collateral damage to innocent people, businesses and workers alike, on both sides of the border.”
05/06/25 10:12
Another thing to watch: Trump’s ’51st state’ assertions
– Lawrence Martin
A big thing to look for in today’s Carney-Trump meeting is whether the U.S. President will back away from his assertions that Canada should become the 51st state. In other words, will he recognize Canadian sovereignty.
Mr. Trump is likely to be asked that question. It will be a surprise if he changes his position. Will Mr. Carney press him on it? That could be dangerous, given the President’s volatility.
05/06/25 10:06
A closer look at the schedule, and things to watch for
- Adrian Morrow
Good morning from Washington. I’m Adrian Morrow, The Globe and Mail‘s man in the U.S. capital, and I will be at the White House today along with Steven Chase and Campbell Clark, two of my colleagues from our Ottawa bureau.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to arrive at 11:30 a.m. ET, meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at 11:45 a.m. and take part in a luncheon hosted by Mr. Trump at 12:15 p.m. ET. Mr. Carney will speak to reporters at the Canadian embassy later in the afternoon.
This may be the highest-stakes meeting between a Canadian prime minister and a U.S. president in history. Mr. Trump has repeatedly talked about annexing Canada as the 51st state, launched his global trade war with an opening salvo of tariffs targeting Canada and suggested he will use “economic force” to get Canadians to join the U.S.
Mr. Carney won last week’s federal election largely on an anti-Trump message, with an “elbows up” campaign slogan and warnings that the two countries’ old relationship is “over.” He has also vowed to reorient Canada’s economic and security policy away from the U.S.
As a practical matter, however, the two countries’ economies are so tightly linked (more than $1-trillion in annual trade) that Mr. Carney wants to do everything he can to end the trade war and prevent further damage.
The challenge today is to stand firm against Mr. Trump’s calls for annexation – which Canadians have roundly rejected – without provoking the President to lash out and impose more economic pain on Canada.
You can be certain Mr. Carney has reviewed the tape of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office earlier this year. During that meeting, after Mr. Zelensky disputed assertions by Vice-President JD Vance, Mr. Vance and Mr. Trump berated Mr. Zelensky for being insufficiently grateful for U.S. help in the fight against Russia. It’s a scene Mr. Carney will be keen to avoid.
A key moment is likely to be the start of the Oval Office meeting, when reporters will be allowed in. Mr. Trump typically uses these opportunities to deliver his top messages for the meeting and to field questions.
The other major goal for Mr. Carney is simply to figure out what Mr. Trump wants from Canada. The U.S. President has made almost no demands short of annexation. And when Canada acquiesced to his demands for tougher border security earlier this year, Mr. Trump went ahead and imposed tariffs anyway.
The Canadian side will be hoping to come away with some concrete basis for further negotiation. They will want to know if there is some way of reaching a deal with Mr. Trump or if their only path is to keep up the economic pressure in the form of retaliatory tariffs and hope he eventually backs down.
05/06/25 09:41
The importance of today’s meeting
– Lawrence Martin
Greetings, I’m Lawrence Martin, a columnist now based in Ottawa after covering Donald Trump’s first term in Washington. I’m a long-time observer of bilateral affairs, having written the book The Presidents and the Prime Ministers. I also lived in the U.S. for seven years. Of all the meetings between the two leaders, I can’t think of any more important than today’s, given Mr. Trump’s ongoing confrontational approach and threats to Canada.
05/06/25 09:33
Diplomatic and business leaders warn of potential consequences of trade-security deal
- Steven Chase and Adrian Morrow
Top business and diplomatic voices are warning that linking trade and security in a single pact will only make it easier for the U.S. President to punish Canada with tariffs if he’s unhappy with its military or border spending.
Goldy Hyder, president of the Business Council of Canada, said the two countries should be “keeping separate things that are separate.” Canada’s economic record with the U.S. is solid while its laggardly spending on defence is a legitimate cause for concern among allies, he noted.
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are already due for renewal negotiations on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2026 and all trade concerns should be channelled into this, he said.
Mr. Hyder noted that Canada joined the U.S. in placing hefty tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, in the interest of protecting the North American auto sector. “The actions that we’ve taken related to China, they’re as strong as America, if not stronger and we’re paying the price for the EV tariffs that are being imposed with China’s countertariffs on our canola and so forth.”
Louise Blais, who was Canada’s No. 2 diplomat at the United Nations during Mr. Trump’s first term, warned that tying defence, critical minerals or other matters to trade in what she termed “one big deal” with Mr. Trump could be potentially dangerous for Ottawa.
Such an agreement, she said, could make it easier for the U.S. to use the economy, and the threat of inflicting financial pain, as a bargaining chip to push Canada on other unrelated disputes.
“It accepts the President’s view that tariffs can be used as a tool to punish allies for failings in other areas than trade. We should avoid this exposure at all costs,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Instead, she contended, Canada would be better off aiming for a side agreement with the U.S. on defence and border security that would keep these matters separate from USMCA.
Any such security pact should also contain language that explicitly recognizes both countries’ territorial integrity in a bid to shut down Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada and make it the U.S.’s 51st state, Ms. Blais said. “We are in a rightful position to demand that our sovereignty no longer be put into question.”
05/06/25 09:18
Canadian exports to U.S. slump, but surge to other countries
- Mark Rendell
Shipping containers at the Port of Montreal on April 14, 2025.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
New trade data from Statistics Canada show Donald Trump’s tariffs are already changing trade flows between Canada and the United States.
Canadian exports to the U.S. tumbled 6.6 per cent in March, while imports from the U.S. dropped 2.9 per cent that month. That follows the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as levies on Canadian goods that don’t comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s rules of origin.
At the same time, Canadian exports to other countries jumped 24.8 per cent – the second-largest monthly increase on record. This included an increase in gold shipments to the United Kingdom, crude oil to the Netherlands and Hong Kong and “various products” to Germany.
Canadian trade has been turbulent since Mr. Trump’s election in November on an ultra-protectionist platform. Exports to the U.S. surged late last year and in January as companies rushed to get products across the border before tariffs took effect. That trend has slowed, although automakers continued to push vehicles across the border in March ahead of the auto tariffs that came into force in early April. Vehicle and auto parts exports were up 7.7 per cent in March.
Meanwhile, industry-specific tariffs are only just starting to bite. Exports of basic and semi-finished iron and steel products were down 9 per cent in March, but exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum alloys were up 4.4 per cent. Both are subject to a 25-per-cent tariff.
Overall, Canada’s merchandise trade exports fell 0.2 per cent in March while imports were down 1.5 per cent, leaving Canada with a smaller-than-expected trade deficit of $506-million, down from $1.4-billion in February.
05/06/25 09:10
Trump says he doesn’t know why Carney wants to meet, prior to White House visit
- Steven Chase and Adrian Morrow
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders and proclamations in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday.Alex Brandon/The Canadian Press
Donald Trump, for his part, adopted a nonchalant air about Mark Carney’s visit on Monday, professing ignorance about what is driving the leader of one of the United States’ biggest trading partners to seek an audience with him.
“I don’t know. He’s coming to see me. I’m not sure what he wants to see me about, but I guess he wants to make a deal. Everybody does,” he said in the Oval Office when asked what he expected from the meeting. “They all want to make a deal because we have something that they all want.”
05/06/25 09:00
Carney visits Trump to discuss trade-security deal
- Steven Chase and Adrian Morrow
Prime Minister Mark Carney waves as he departs for Washington, D.C., on Monday.Patrick Doyle/Reuters
Prime Minister Mark Carney will kick off talks with Donald Trump Tuesday in a bid for a comprehensive deal on trade and security.
Mr. Carney flew to Washington Monday ahead of a working lunch Tuesday with Mr. Trump, scheduled to arrive at the White House at 11:30 a.m. ET. The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to take place at the Oval Office at 11:45 a.m. ET.
In recent months, Mr. Trump has unleashed a damaging trade war on Canada in what he has framed as a bid to annex the country as the “51st state.” The economic attack is discouraging capital investment and cross-border business, jeopardizing Canada’s auto, metals and other sectors.
Mr. Carney‘s bid to end the trade war follows from a March agreement with the President that the country’s leaders would begin “comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship” after the Canadian federal election, as described in a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
05/06/25 09:00
Trump’s meeting with Carney to unfold against a backdrop of renewed 51st-state rhetoric
- Steven Chase and Adrian Morrow
U.S. President Donald Trump says it’s “highly unlikely” he would resort to military force to annex Canada but is adamant that the border separating it from the United States is “an artificial line” that prevents the two territories from forming a “beautiful country.”
Speaking to NBC just days before his first in-person meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mr. Trump declined to flatly rule out a military invasion of Canada, instead saying that it’s not a course of action he envisions taking but that as a “real estate guy at heart,” he feels the two countries should be joined.
The President’s comments ensure that his persistent talk of making Canada the “51st state” will loom over his planned May 6 meeting with the Prime Minister. The sit-down comes at a nadir in bilateral relations after Mr. Trump made Canada and Mexico the opening salvo of his global trade war and after he declined in January to rule out using “economic force” to achieve annexation.
When Mr. Carney, fresh from his election victory, visits Mr. Trump at the White House Tuesday, he will be seeking a grand bargain to end Mr. Trump’s tariffs and assuage Washington’s concerns about Ottawa’s security and defence spending.
But Mr. Carney, who rode Canadian anger over Mr. Trump’s threats to electoral success, faces a perilous task in rejecting the annexation talk without jeopardizing more than US$1.2-trillion in annual trade.
In his remarks to NBC‘s Meet the Press, which aired Sunday, Mr. Trump tried to make the case that Canada has no leverage when it comes to trade talks. “We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy. We don’t need anything,“ he said. “They need us. We don’t need them.”