WASHINGTON — In their first face-to-face meeting, Prime Minister Mark Carney told U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday that Canada will "never" be for sale.
When reporters questioned Trump in the Oval Office about his past comments about making Canada a U.S. state, Trump — taking a tone very different from the one he's used in past months — downplayed the suggestion.
Trump said “it takes two to tango” but it would be a "wonderful marriage if it could happen."
Carney jumped in after and — pointing to the White House as an example — said some places are simply not on the market.
Canada, he said, is "not for sale" and "won't be for sale, ever."
Trump still wouldn't close the door on annexation after Carney's remarks, adding he would "never say never.," prompting Carney to look around the room and said "never, never."
“I’ve had many, many things that were not doable and they ended up being doable,” Trump said. “If it’s to everybody’s benefit. You know, Canada loves us and we love Canada. That’s, I think, the number 1 thing that’s important. But we’ll see. Over time we’ll see what happens.”
Trump said that regardless of what happens, the United States is always going to be friends with Canada. He also said there was nothing Carney could say to him Tuesday that would convince him to drop tariffs on Canada.
The public portion of the high-stakes meeting was largely cordial, with Carney calling Trump a "transformational" president focused on the economy and tackling illegal opioids.
Trump said Canada chose a “very talented person” in its recent election and described the Liberal win as one of the greatest political comebacks of all time.
The two world leaders discussed U.S.-Canada relations in the midst of a trade war initiated by Trump shortly after he assumed office at the outset of the year.
Trump had set a confrontational tone for the meeting, which began late. In a post on his Truth Social account just ahead of Carney's arrival, Trump repeated his criticisms of Canada and insisted the U.S. does not need Canadian cars, energy and lumber.
Trump wrote that his "only question of consequence" for Carney would be about why America is propping up the Canadian economy and providing "free" military protection.
Carney was joined in the meeting by Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, along with several other senior officials.
Senior U.S. officials in the room with Trump included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra.
In an appearance on Fox News the day before, Lutnick accused Canada of “basically feeding off of us for decades upon decades upon decades.”
“They have their socialist regime, and it’s basically feeding off of America, I mean, the president calls it out all the time. Why do we make cars in Canada? Why do we do our films in Canada? Come on,” he said.
Before arriving in Washington, Carney framed the meeting as the beginning of talks on a larger economic and security agreement between Canada and the United States.
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, called CUSMA, was negotiated during the first Trump administration.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has repeated a long list of complaints about Canada while hitting it with tariffs and claiming it would be better off as a U.S. state.
Trump repeatedly called then-prime minister Justin Trudeau "governor" but has not done the same to Carney. The president also has described Carney in complimentary terms, calling him a "very nice man."
Trump went ahead with economywide tariffs against Canada in March, only to partially walk back the duties a few days later on imports compliant with CUSMA rules. Canada was also hit by steel, aluminum and automobile tariffs.
Trump's team and his recent actions, however, suggest he recognizes the importance of trade with Canada to the U.S. The president left Canada and Mexico out of his global tariff agenda and provided further CUSMA carveouts for the North American automobile industry.
Greer told Fox News last week that the Trump administration wants to maintain partnerships with its close neighbours. He said "the president very much wants to have a healthy relationship in North America."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
