John Ivison: Deep in the Rockies, Carney stumbles upon a wild and dangerous Trump

Calgary Herald

6 hours ago

The G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alta. hadn't even kicked off in earnest when Mark Carney began to wear the look of a man who had lost control of events that were starting to control him.
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The prime minister's meeting with Donald Trump in front of the cameras Monday morning started well enough, with him flattering the president by saying that the G7 is 'nothing without U.S. leadership.'
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Trump responded by commenting that he has developed a 'very good relationship' with the Canadian prime minister, whom he called 'Mark.'
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But Trump can't pass a fire without putting an iron in it. Without prompting, he mused on how the G7 used to be the G8, before former president Barack Obama and 'a person named Trudeau' kicked Russia out.
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In fact, Russia was suspended after its invasion of Crimea in 2014, a year before Trudeau became prime minister, but the president does not let the facts interfere with his preconceptions.
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'I would say that was a mistake. You wouldn't have had a war if Russia was in, or if Trump was president,' Trump said.
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Carney would have been well advised to use his prerogative to get Trump the hell out of the room before the president started taking questions. But, too late, Trump was quickly in his preferred environment as the centre of attention.
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U.S. officials suggested ahead of the G7 gathering that Trump wants to show progress on trade deals. He was asked what is holding up a deal with Canada and responded that a deal is 'achievable' but that he has a 'tariff concept,' while Carney has a 'much more complex idea.'
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'I'm sure we can work something out,' he said.