4 hours ago
Last Updated:May 06, 2025, 22:00 IST
Donald Trump accuses Canada of “effectively freeloading off the United States” minutes before greeting recently reelected Carney at the White House.
US President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC. (IMAGE: AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held highly anticipated talks with Donald Trump at the White House Tuesday amid tensions over the US president’s tariffs and threats of annexation.
Trump slammed Canada on Truth Social for effectively freeloading off the United States just minutes before greeting the recently reelected Carney outside the West Wing.
Liberal leader Carney, 60, won the Canadian election on a pledge to stand up to Trump, saying the United States would never “own us" and warning that ties between the North American neighbors could never be the same.
Republican Trump, 78, has sparked a major trade war with Canada with his tariffs while repeatedly making extraordinary calls for the key NATO ally and major trading partner to become the 51st US state.
Trump said ahead of Carney’s arrival that “I very much want to work with him" but pointed to a possibly tense meeting.
“Why is America subsidizing Canada by $200 Billion Dollars a year, in addition to giving them FREE Military Protection, and many other things?" Trump posted on Truth Social.
“We don’t need ANYTHING they have, other than their friendship, which hopefully we will always maintain. The Prime Minister will be arriving shortly and that will be, most likely, my only question of consequence."
After his tough talk on the campaign trail, Carney will meanwhile be seeking to cool the temperature and move towards a trade deal.
“Canada and the United States are strongest when we work together — and that work starts now," Carney said on X as he arrived in Washington on Monday night.
Trump slapped general tariffs of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and sector-specific levies on autos, some of which have been suspended pending negotiations. He has also imposed similar duties on steel and aluminum.
Carney has vowed to remake NATO member Canada’s ties with the United States in perhaps its biggest political and economic shift since World War II.
‘Old relationship’
“Our old relationship based on steadily increasing integration is over. The questions now are how our nations will cooperate in the future," Carney said in his first post-election press conference on Friday.
The Canadian leader said he would also “fight to get the best deal" on the tariffs.
But Trump’s ultra-loyal Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said it would be “really complex" to reach a deal.
“They have their socialist regime and it’s basically feeding off of America," he told Fox Business on Monday. “I just don’t see how it works out perfectly."
The US president inserted himself into Canada’s election early on with a social media post saying Canada would face “ZERO TARIFFS" if it “becomes the cherished 51st state."
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party had been on track to win the vote but Trump’s attacks, combined with the departure of unpopular former premier Justin Trudeau, transformed the race.
Carney, who replaced Trudeau as prime minister in March, convinced voters that his experience managing economic crises made him the ideal candidate to defy Trump.
The political newcomer previously served as governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, and in the latter post he played a key role reassuring markets after the 2016 Brexit vote.
Carney is known for weighing his words carefully but he will face a challenge dealing with the confrontational Trump on the US president’s home turf.
“This is a very important moment for him, since he insisted during the campaign that he could take on Mr Trump," Genevieve Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, told AFP.
The Canadian premier would also have to avoid the fate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who walked into a brutal tongue-lashing from Trump and Vice President JD Vance in February, said Tellier.
But one point in Carney’s favor is that he is not Trudeau, the slick former prime minister whom Trump famously loathed and belittled as “governor" of Canada, she added.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)Location :Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
First Published:News world Donald Trump Blasts Canada On Truth Social, Then Welcomes PM Mark Carney At White House
