WASHINGTON: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told US President Donald Trump that his country was “never for sale” Tuesday as they met at the White House amid tensions on tariffs and sovereignty.
In their first Oval Office meeting, Trump insisted to the recently elected Carney that it would be a “wonderful marriage” if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state.
But despite Trump’s claims of friendly relations, the body language became increasingly tense between the 78-year-old Republican and the 60-year-old Canadian leader.
“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale,” Carney told property tycoon Trump, comparing Canada to the Oval Office itself and to Britain’s Buckingham Palace.
“Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign in the last several months, it’s not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever.”
Trump then replied: “Never say never.”
Carney won the Canadian election of April 28 on a pledge to stand up to Trump, warning that ties between the North American neighbors could never be the same.
Trump has sparked a major trade war with Canada with his tariffs while repeatedly making extraordinary calls for the key NATO ally and major trading partner to become part of the United States.
Despite that, the two leaders began their meeting with warm words toward each other.
Twice-elected Trump hailed Carney, whose Liberal Party surged from behind to win the election, for “one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.”
But while they expressed a willingness to work toward a trade deal to end the tariffs, it became clear that common ground would be hard to find.
Carney at points gripped his hands tightly together and his knee jiggled up and down while Trump spoke.
“No. It’s just the way it is,” Trump said when asked if there was anything Carney could say in the meeting that would persuade him to drop car tariffs in particular.
And when the US president pressed his claim that Canadians might one day want to join the United States, Carney raised his hand and pushed back.
“Respectfully, Canadians’ view on this is not going to change on the 51st state,” said Carney.
A visibly tense Trump then referenced his blazing Oval Office row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February — if only to insist that there would be no repeat.
“We had another little blow-up with somebody else, that was much different — this is a very friendly conversation,” Trump said.
Carney gave a thumbs up to reporters as he left the White House after just over two hours. He is due to give a press conference at 3pm (1900 GMT).
The meeting was highly anticipated after a Canadian election during which Carney vowed that the United States would never “own us.”
Carney has since vowed to remake NATO member Canada’s ties with the United States in perhaps its biggest political and economic shift since World War II.
Trump has slapped general tariffs of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and sector-specific levies on autos, some of which have been suspended pending negotiations. He has imposed similar duties on steel and aluminum.
The US president inserted himself into Canada’s election early on by calling on Canada to avoid tariffs by becoming the “cherished 51st state.”
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party had been on track to win the vote but Trump’s attacks, combined with the departure of unpopular premier Justin Trudeau, transformed the race.
Carney, who replaced Trudeau as prime minister in March, convinced voters that his experience managing economic crises made him the ideal candidate to defy Trump.
The political newcomer previously served as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and in the latter post he played a key role reassuring markets after the 2016 Brexit vote.
Carney is known for weighing his words carefully but still faced a challenge dealing with the confrontational Trump on the US president’s home turf.
“This is a very important moment for him, since he insisted during the campaign that he could take on Mr.Trump,” Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, told AFP.
One point in Carney’s favor is that he is not Trudeau, the slick former prime minister whom Trump famously loathed and belittled as “governor” of Canada, she added.
