| (BSS/AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held highly anticipated talks with Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday amid tensions over the US president`s tariffs and threats of annexation.
Trump slammed Canada on Truth Social for effectively freeloading off the United States just minutes before greeting the recently reelected Carney outside the West Wing.
Liberal leader Carney, 60, won the Canadian election on a pledge to stand up to Trump, saying the United States would never "own us" and warning that ties between the North American neighbors could never be the same.Republican Trump, 78, 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 the 51st US state.
Trump said ahead of Carney`s arrival that "I very much want to work with
him" but pointed to a possibly tense meeting.
"Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in
addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?" Trump
posted on Truth Social.
"We don`t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which
hopefully we will always maintain. The Prime Minister will be arriving shortly
and that will be, most likely, my only question of consequence."
After his tough talk on the campaign trail, Carney will meanwhile be
seeking to cool the temperature and move towards a trade deal.
"Canada and the United States are strongest when we work together -- and
that work starts now," Carney said on X as he arrived in Washington on Monday
night.
Trump 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 also imposed similar duties on steel and aluminum.
Carney has vowed to remake NATO member Canada`s ties with the United States
in perhaps its biggest political and economic shift since World War II.
- `Old relationship` -
"Our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over. The
questions now are how our nations will cooperate in the future," Carney said in
his first post-election press conference on Friday.
The Canadian leader said he would also "fight to get the best deal" on the
tariffs.
But Trump`s ultra-loyal Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said it would be
"really complex" to reach a deal.
"They have their socialist regime and it`s basically feeding off of
America," he told Fox Business on Monday. "I just don`t see how it works out
perfectly."
The US president inserted himself into Canada`s election early on with a
social media post saying Canada would face "ZERO TARIFFS" if it "becomes 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 former 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 he will face 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.
The Canadian premier would also have to avoid the fate of Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who walked into a brutal tongue-lashing from
Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February, said Tellier.
But 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.
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