Latest news with #Mark Carney
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump makes threat against Canada after country pledges to recognize Palestinian state
President Donald Trump threatened to walk away from a potential trade deal with Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to recognize a Palestinian state. Trump has been meeting with Carney to reach an agreement before the United States imposes a 35 percent tariff on all goods from its northern neighbor on August 1. But Carney's announcement on Wednesday that he will formally recognize the state of Palestine in September has apparently thrown a wrench in the negotiations. 'Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social page Wednesday night. 'That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh Canada!!' The tariff negotiations had been constructive up to this point, Carney's office said on Wednesday, though he warned the talks may not conclude by the deadline on Friday. Amid the negotiations, Carney was apparently inspired to make the change to foreign policy after discussing the ongoing crisis in Gaza with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced a similar move on Tuesday. However the United States has already brokered a trade agreement with the United Kingdom. It is now unclear whether Starmer's new support for a Palestinian state will affect relations with the country. President Trump has railed against the recent pressure to formally recognize Palestinian statehood amid scenes of starvation in Gaza. 'As the president stated, he would be rewarding Hamas if he recognizes a Palestinian state, and he doesn´t think they should be rewarded,' a White House official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'So he is not going to do that. President Trump's focus is on getting people fed [in Gaza].' But for Carney, 'the level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. 'Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,' he announced, saying he has convened a Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in the battered Palestinian territory. 'Preserving a two-state solution means standing with all people who choose peace over violence or terrorism and honoring their innate desire for the peaceful co-existence of Israeli and Palestinian states as the only roadmap for a secure future,' the prime minister added in a statement posted online. 'We will intensify our efforts with our international partners to develop a credible peace plan that establishes governance and security arrangements for Palestine and ensures the delivery of humanitarian aid at the necessary scale to Gaza,' he vowed. 'Canada will be a constructive partner in building a just, meaningful and lasting peace in the region and a future that respects the dignity, security and aspirations of all Palestinians and Israelis.' Yet Carney said his country's support for a Palestinian state is predicated on the Palestinian Authority 'holding general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.' Carney also called for Hamas to release all of the hostages in its custody following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, following in the footsteps of the UK Prime Minister. Starmer had previously said the country's recognition of Palestine would go ahead in September 'unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza.' That included Israel reaching a ceasefire, making clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and committing to a long-term peace process that delivers a two-state solution. Like Carney, Starmer also called for Hamas to agree not to play any role in a Palestinian state's future governance and disarm. He also said it must accept a ceasefire in the ongoing war. Efforts to recognize a Palestinian state have mounted since French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that his country would become the first major Western power to do so More than 140 countries have also agreed to recognize a Palestinian state, including a dozen in Europe. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has railed against the efforts, saying Starmer has rewarded 'Hamas's monstrous terrorism' while punishing its victims. 'A jihadist state on Israel's border today will threaten Britain tomorrow. Appeasement towards jihadist terrorists always fails. It will fail you too. It will not happen,' the Israeli PM added. Israel's Foreign Ministry echoed Netanyahu's words, adding: 'The shift in the British government's position at this time... constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages.'
New York Times
3 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Threatens Canada Ahead of Trade Deadline for Backing Palestinian State
President Trump said early Thursday that it would be 'very hard' to make a trade deal with Canada after its prime minister said he plans to recognize Palestine as a state. It was Mr. Trump's latest threat against an ally on the eve of a deadline to impose tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada had said on Wednesday that Canada would recognize Palestine as a state if the Palestinian Authority commits to certain conditions, including holding elections. 'That will make it very hard for us to make a trade deal with them,' Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform shortly after midnight on Thursday. The president had set a deadline of Aug. 1 for countries to finish negotiating trade deals with his administration, otherwise tariffs of up to 50 percent would be imposed on the products they send to the United States. Come Friday, exports from Canada, the United States' second-largest trading partner, would bear a 35 percent tariff. Canada's announcement followed a similar move last week by President Emmanuel Macron of France to recognize Palestine. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday said Britain would recognize Palestine if Israel did not reach a cease-fire agreement on the war in Gaza by September. Mr. Trump has dismissed Mr. Macron's announcement, saying it 'doesn't carry any weight.'
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Trump says Canada's Palestine statehood stance may hurt trade deal
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday it will be difficult to make a trade deal with Canada after the country announced it is backing Palestinian statehood. Canadian Prime Minster Mark Carney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Carney announced on Wednesday Canada is planning to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September Canada's announcement follows France and Britain in recognizing a Palestinian state. Israel and its closest ally, the US, both rejected Carney's statements. Canada and the US are working on negotiating a trade deal by August 1, the date Trump is threatening to impose a 35 percent tariff on all Canadian goods not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. Carney said on Wednesday that tariff negotiations with US President Donald Trump's administration have been constructive, but the talks may not conclude by the deadline.
The National
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
US sits on sidelines as global momentum builds for a two-state solution
Britain's announcement that it might finally recognise the State of Palestine dominated headlines this week, overshadowing a UN summit that could prove consequential in securing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's declaration that the UK would probably recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September was notable, especially given Britain's historical role in creating Israel and its 1917 Balfour Declaration endorsing the Zionist movement. But, in a style typical of the prevaricating Labour leader, he sucked the oxygen out of his own announcement by leaving space for a U-turn if Israel somehow manages to address the humanitarian catastrophe it has engineered in Gaza. Meanwhile at the UN, France and Saudi Arabia this week hosted a conference aimed at generating momentum towards a two-state solution ahead of the General Assembly. France has already said it will recognise Palestine in September - no ifs or buts - and Saudi Arabia has long pushed for Palestinian statehood and made it a condition of establishing relations with Israel. A largely overlooked piece of news came late on Tuesday in the form of a joint declaration from France and 14 other western countries that are allies of Israel saying they have, or they would be willing to, recognise Palestinian statehood at the General Assembly. Among them: Canada, New Zealand and Australia, none of which currently recognise Palestine. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said Canada "intends" to recognise the Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly. We are at a tipping point, and other countries are sure to join in. If those on the list do indeed recognise the State of Palestine, it would mean that more than 150 of the UN's 193 member states recognise it - with Israel, Germany and the US among the few major nations still refusing to do so. It is a strong statement. As my colleague Adla Massoud reported from the UN, the declaration also condemns the October 7 attacks, calls for the release of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas. Washington has vetoed several Security Council ceasefire resolutions exactly because they omitted these important aspects. Instead of acknowledging any of this this, the US chose to react with fury to France and Saudi Arabia having the temerity to host a two-state summit, calling it an "insult" and an "unproductive and ill-timed" publicity stunt. The US and Israel both boycotted the event. "Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. Israel and the US say recognising Palestine now serves only as a reward to Hamas after the October 7, 2023, attacks that saw about 1,200 people killed and some 250 kidnapped. But such condemnation wilfully neglects the reality on the ground in Gaza, where more than 60,100 people have been killed in Israel's assault. Many more are feared to have died from less-immediate causes, such as from diseases being left untreated due to Israel's systematic destruction of the enclave's hospitals. For all his talk of being a deal-maker and his determination to win a Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump has been unable to secure a new ceasefire in Gaza, where starvation is now claiming lives on a daily basis, and his thinking remains rigidly pro-Israel on the issue. What seems clear to most of the world - but still not to the US - is that the pre-October 7 orthodoxy on recognising Palestine no longer holds. The promise of statehood was always dangled as a reward for a successful outcome to hypothetical talks in the future, even though Israel pushed the prospects of a two-state solution ever further out through its illegal settlements in the West Bank. For each month that passes without international recognition of Palestine, Israel annexes more land and settlers commit more crimes. The aim is to make a Palestinian state inviable, which is why recognition now is vital. Israel has always enjoyed broad support in the US but after nearly two years of collective punishment in Gaza, that is slipping, particularly among younger people. Another crack appeared this week when Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading voice in Mr Trump's Make America Great Again movement, said Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza. The firebrand congresswoman has long been accused of espousing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, but her comments on Gaza could signal a turning point in the conversation among Republicans. Something has to change and Washington's unblinking support for Israel is increasingly putting it at odds with the rest of the world, which is now seeing an opening to act without Uncle Sam's blessing.
Wall Street Journal
9 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Canada-U.S. Trade Talks Might Fail to Produce Tariff Deal by Aug. 1, Carney Says
OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said bilateral talks with Washington to resolve the tariff row might not lead to a deal before the Aug. 1 deadline. Senior officials are in Washington to find an agreement that is suitable for Canada, Carney said.
