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Prime Minister Mark Carney met U.S. President Donald Trump in person for the first time at the Oval Office on Tuesday. Carney arrived at about 11:55 a.m. and was greeted by Trump with a handshake, after which they both raised a fist to the cameras.
The meeting lasted for about 30 minutes, after which they moved to a private working luncheon with their teams in the Cabinet Room. Here’s some of what was said in front of the press.
Trump introduces Carney to the press
A few days ago, he won a very big election in Canada, and I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him. His party was losing by a lot, and he ended up winning. So I really want to congratulate him, probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.
Trump on the Canadian election
I think Canada chose a very talented person, a very good person. Because we spoke before the election quite a few times. And it’s an honour to have you at the White House and the Oval Office…. But I just want to congratulate you. You ran a really great race. I watched the debate and I thought you were excellent. And I think we have a lot of things in common. We have some tough points to go over and that’ll be fine.
Carney’s response
Thank you for your hospitality, and above all for your leadership. You’re a transformational president, focus on the economy with a relentless focus on the American worker, securing your borders, ending the scourge of fentanyl and other opioids, and securing the world…. The history of Canada and the U.S. is we’re stronger when we work together, and there’s many opportunities to work together and I look forward to addressing some of those issues that we have but also finding those areas of mutual co-operation so we can move forward.
Trump on Carney’s victory in the election
I have a lot of respect for this man, and I watched him come up essentially through the ranks when he wasn’t given much of a chance. And he did. He ran a really great campaign. He did a really great debate. I think that debate was very helpful.
Trump on Canada
We’re going to be friends with Canada. Regardless of anything, we’re going to be friends with Canada. Canada is a very special place to me. I know so many people that live in Canada. My parents had relatives that lived in Canada, my mother in particular. And no, I love Canada, I have a lot of respect for the Canadians. Wayne Gretzky, I mean, how good — the Great One.
Trump on Canada as the 51st state
I still believe that. But, you know, takes two to tango, right? But, no, I do. I mean, I believe it would be a massive tax cut for the Canadian citizens. You get free military, get tremendous medical cares and other things. There would be a lot of advantages, but it would be a massive tax cut, and it’s also a beautiful — you know, as a real estate developer, you know, I’m a real estate developer at heart, when you get rid of that artificially drawn line — somebody drew that line many years ago, like a ruler, just a straight line right across the top of the country. When you look at that beautiful formation, when it’s together, I’m a very artistic person. But when I looked at that, I said, that’s the way it was meant to be. I do feel it’s much better for Canada. But we’re not going to be discussing that unless someone wants to discuss it.
Carney weighs in
As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale. We’re sitting in one right now. Buckingham Palace that you visited as well. And having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign, last several months, it’s not for sale. Won’t be for sale, ever.
Trump’s response
Time will tell. It’s only time. But I say never say never. I’ve had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable and only doable in a very friendly way. But if it’s to everybody’s benefit, you know, Canada loves us and we love Canada, that’s, I think the No. 1 thing that’s important, but we’ll see. Over time, we’ll see what happens.
Trump on trade deals
We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market. We don’t want a piece of their market. We don’t care about their market…. Think of us as a super luxury store, a store that has the goods. You’re going to come and you’re going to pay a price, and we’re going to give you a very good price. We’re going to make very good deals, and in some cases, we’ll adjust, but that’s where it is. And we’ve been ripped off by everybody for 50 years, and we’re just not going to do that anymore. We can’t do that, and we can’t let any country do that to us. We’re just not going to do it anymore.
Trump on the USMCA
I won’t say this about Mark, but I didn’t like his predecessor. I didn’t like a person that worked — she was terrible, actually, she was a terrible person, and she really hurt that deal very badly, because she tried to take advantage of the deal, and she didn’t get away with it. You know who I’m talking about (Chrystia Freeland)…. We do have a negotiation coming up over the next year or so, to adjust it or terminate it.
Carney’s response
I’ll say a word on USMCA, if I may, Mr. President. It is a basis for a broader negotiation. Some things about it are going to have to change. And part of the way you’ve conducted these tariffs has taken advantage of existing aspects of USMCA. So it’s going to have to change. There’s other elements that are coming, and that’s part of what we’re going to discuss.
Trump on trade with Canada
We don’t much business with Canada, from our standpoint. They do a lot of business with us.
Trump’s on whether Carney could say something to change his mind on tariffs
No. Just the way it is.
On whether he would respect Canada’s refusal to be the 51st state
Sure I would. But this is not necessarily a one-day deal. This is over a period of time they have to make that decision.
Carney’s response to both those questions
Respectfully, Canadians view on this is not going to change, on the 51st state. Secondly, we are the largest client of the United States in the totality of all the goods. So we are the largest client of the United States. We have a tremendous auto sector between the two of us, and the changes that have been made have been helpful. You know, 50 per cent of a car that comes from Canada is American. That’s not like anywhere else in the world. And to your question about is there one thing? No, this is a bigger discussion. There are much bigger forces involved. And this will take some time and some discussions, and that’s why we’re here.
Trump’s reply
This is a very friendly conversation, but we want to make our own cars. We don’t really want cars from Canada, and we put tariffs on cars from Canada, and at a certain point it won’t make economic sense for Canada to build those cars. And we don’t want steel from Canada because we’re making our own steel.
Trump’s final word
We protect Canada militarily, and we always will. That’s not a money thing, but we always will. But, you know, it’s not fair. But why are we subsidizing Canada $200 billion a year, or whatever the number might be, it’s a very substantial number. And it’s hard for the American taxpayer to say gee whiz we love doing that. Thank you very much.
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