Carney: Trump and I had ‘very constructive discussions’
Carney says he and Trump met today “as leaders of two independent sovereign nations” and had “very constructive discussions”.
He reiterates that the two countries are stronger “when we work together”.
Today, he says, “marked the end of the beginning of a process of the US and Canada redefining that relationship of working together”, adding the question is how they will cooperate in the future.
Key events
As a colleague points out, the president posted screenshots of the entire text of a new Wall Street Journal report headlined, “Supreme Court Lets Trump’s Ban on Transgender Military Service Take Effect” on his social media platform.
Trump is obviously happy about the report, and less concerned with violating the newspaper’s copyright by giving his social media followers without subscriptions to the Journal a way to avoid its paywall. The newspaper, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, has been hard on Trump for a tariff policy that risks bringing the whole global economy down. An editorial in January called Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, “The Dumbest Trade War in History” (paywall).
Donald Trump just announced on his social media platform that he has named Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York mayor and disbarred lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to serve as executive director of a presidential task force on 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The task force, which Trump established two months ago, when the president of the governing body of world soccer, Gianni Infantino, visited the Oval Office, will coordinate the work of federal agencies in support of the international tournament to be hosted jointly, tariffs permitting, by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The task force is also supposed to help coordinate another FIFA tournament, the Club World Cup, which brings leading professional clubs to the US this summer. Since Infantino’s visit, Trump has kept the huge golden trophy for the club tournament in the Oval Office near his desk.
Andrew Giuliani, a former professional golfer with an undistinguished career, served in the first Trump administration, and then failed to win the Republican nomination for governor of New York in 2022.
A White House description of the task force stresses that the event is expected to bring tourists from around the globe to the US. However, Trump’s crackdown on immigration has already led to a number of tourists being wrongfully detained and severely depressed tourism.
Andrew Giuliani’s first involvement in politics was stealing the show from his father when he was first sworn in as mayor in 1994, and his young son took the oath alongside him.
Carney also told reporters that he and Trump had a wide-ranging and constructive discussion, but cautioned that it’s a “complex negotiation” and no decisions were made on tariffs during today’s meeting.
Robert Mackey
Earlier Carney was asked by a Toronto Star reporter what was going through his mind as Trump suggested erasing the border between the US and Canada, and attacked his friend Chrystia Freeland, who led trade negotiations with the US during Trump’s first term.
Carney said: “Thank you for, I guess, for your question. I’m glad you couldn’t tell what was going through my mind.”
“This is the point at which serious discussion begins,” Carney says.
Carney says he asked Trump to stop calling Canada the 51st US state today
Asked if he asked Trump to stop referring to Canada as the 51st US state, Carney replies: “Yes.” Asked when, he says: “Today.”
Carney declines to reveal how Trump responded to that.
Carney says he pressed the case where he thinks tariffs should be lifted, outlining some of Canada’s efforts to abate the fentanyl crisis. There is more work to be done on tariffs in other areas, he says, adding they’re “not in the interest of American competitiveness and jobs”.
Carney says he feels better about US-Canada relations in many respects after the meeting with Trump – in terms of the position Trump took toward him, “the breadth of discussion and how concrete the discussions were”.
I would add, he says, that they also discussed a number of global issues where we have common interest, “which is a sign of a healthier relationship”. He adds:
We have a lot more work to do … we can’t have one meeting and everything’s changed but we are engaged. We are fully engaged.
Asked what Trump asked him about China behind closed doors, Carney jokes: “That’s why they’re closed door.” He adds that the two had “a wide-ranging discussion”.
The prospect of renegotiating a new trade deal is there, Carney says, adding “he and I” will be following up in the coming weeks.
