Carney meets Trump in bid to reset Canada-US relations
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday in a bid to reset a relationship he says has been undermined by the US president's tariffs and talk of annexation.
Carney's Liberal Party won an April 28 election on the back of promises to tackle Trump and create a new bilateral economic and security relationship with the United States.
It will be his first in-person meeting as prime minister with Trump.
"It's important to get engaged immediately ... and I'm pleased to have the opportunity for quite a comprehensive set of meetings," Carney told a media conference on Friday, adding he expected the talks to be difficult yet constructive.
He played down the idea of immediate breakthroughs.
"Do not expect white smoke out of that meeting," Carney said, referring to the signal the Vatican sends to indicate a new Pope has been chosen.
Carney, a 60-year-old ex-central banker with no previous political experience, was elected Liberal leader in March to replace Justin Trudeau, who had a poor relationship with Trump.
Canada is the US's second-largest individual trading partner after Mexico, and the largest export market for US goods.
More than $US760 billion ($A1.2 trillion) in goods flowed between the two countries in 2024.
While Canada has run a trade surplus of more than $US60 billion in the past two years, most of that stems from its status as the largest foreign supplier of oil to the US.
Trump in March imposed a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminium imports coming into the US and then slapped another 25 per cent tariff on cars and parts that did not comply with a North American free trade agreement.
On Sunday, Trump said he would put a 100 per cent tariff on all movies produced outside the US, without giving details, in a potential blow to Canada's film industry.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview on the Fox Business Network on Monday, said getting a trade deal with Canada was going to be complex.
Brian Clow, a senior Trudeau aide who was in charge of US relations inside the prime minister's office for several years, said there was no chance of the tariffs being lifted on Tuesday.
"This is going to be the beginning of a process and further engagements that hopefully lead to tariffs being lifted ... that conversation needs to start, and that's why this meeting is so important," he said in a phone interview.
In an interview that aired on NBC News on Sunday, Trump called Carney a "very nice man", yet said he would always talk about making Canada the 51st state, repeating earlier comments about the United States not needing any Canadian exports.
Carney says Trump's tariffs and talk of annexation are a betrayal of the two nations' traditional long-standing alliance.
But he has refrained from insulting Trump and on Friday described him as one of the world's best negotiators.
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Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending, and on Tuesday called for "all politicians who betrayed the American people" to be fired in 2026. His involvement with the Trump administration has provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. Donald Trump says he has no plans to speak with Elon Musk, signalling the US president and his former ally might not resolve their feud over a sweeping tax-cut bill any time soon. Addressing reporters on Friday aboard Air Force One, Trump said he wasn't "thinking about" the Tesla CEO. "I hope he does well with Tesla," Trump said. However, Trump said a review of Musk's extensive contracts with the federal government was in order. "We'll take look at everything," the president said. "It's a lot of money." Trump may get rid of the red Tesla Model S that he bought in March after showcasing Musk's electric cars on the White House lawn, a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Musk, for his part, did not directly address Trump but kept up his criticism of the massive Republican tax and spending bill that contains much of Trump's domestic agenda. On his social-media platform X, Musk amplified remarks made by others that Trump's "big beautiful bill" would hurt Republicans politically and add to the nation's $US36.2 trillion ($A55.8 trillion) debt. He replied "exactly" to a post by another X user that said Musk had criticised Congress and Trump had responded by criticising Musk personally. Musk also declared it was time for a new political party in the United States "to represent the 80 per cent in the middle!" People who have spoken to Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they think he will want to repair his relationship with Trump, according to one person who has spoken to Musk's entourage. The White House statements came one day after the two men battled openly in an extraordinary display of hostilities that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Tesla stock rose on Friday, clawing back some losses from Thursday's session, when it dropped 14 per cent and lost $US150 billion ($A231 billion) in value, the largest single-day decline in the company's history. Musk, the world's richest person, bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Trump feted Musk at the White House a week ago as he wrapped up his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. 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Calls grow for besieged Tasmanian Premier to resign after no-confidence loss, despite Jeremy Rockliff ruling out privatising state-owned assets
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Sky News AU
2 hours ago
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Trade talks to start between US and China next week
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