Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Donald Trump that his country was “not for sale” as he rejected the US president’s push to make Canada the 51st US state during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday.
“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale,” Carney told Trump in a mostly convivial exchange in the Oval Office. “Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign . . . it’s not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever,” he said.
But in a sign that tensions are likely to persist between Washington and Ottawa, Trump responded by saying: “Never say never.”
The meeting at the White House was the first in-person encounter since Carney won the Canadian election last month on a staunch anti-Trump platform.
The US president’s hostility to his northern neighbour — with repeated threats to annex Canada and the imposition of tariffs in violation of a free trade agreement — dominated the Canadian election campaign and helped propel Carney’s Liberal party to victory.
But Trump opened the conversation with a friendly quip about Carney’s victory. “I think I was the greatest thing that happened to him,” he said, adding: “It was probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.”
He then described the prime minister as a “very talented person, a very good person”.
“I have a lot of respect for this man,” he added.
This is a developing story
