After their Oval Workplace encounter beneath the glare of the TV lights, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his U.S. counterpart retreated to the Roosevelt Room for a working lunch on Tuesday. A lot of the mealtime chatter was about international coverage points, in line with a senior Canadian official.
The 2 leaders bought alongside fairly effectively, the official stated, and the president pressured firstly and finish of the luncheon that it was an honour to host the brand new prime minister on the White Home.
Trump stated on the time he regarded the day’s discussions as “nice” — matching feedback he later advised the White Home press pool.
“He is a pleasant man. We get alongside very effectively. We had an awesome assembly right this moment — actually. I feel the connection’s going to be very robust,” Trump stated of Carney.
Whereas there have been niceties, Carney was clear with Trump in non-public, as he was in his public statements earlier than the press, that Canada and the U.S. coming collectively as one nation is a non-starter, in line with the official, who spoke to CBC Information and different reporters travelling with the prime minister on background and with the situation that they not be named.
Carney advised reporters he personally requested Trump to cease with the annexationist speak.
Throughout a information convention in Washington following his assembly with U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated he’s making the case for tariffs to be eliminated and that ‘appreciable efforts’ have been made to extend border safety, particularly concerning fentanyl. Carney added there may be ‘extra work to do’ in making the case that tariffs aren’t good for People both.
However the Canadian delegation left the assembly with a clearer understanding that the president actually thinks it might be a good suggestion for Canada to turn out to be the 51st state — these aren’t simply feedback designed to impress, the official stated.
Trump, nevertheless, conceded it “takes two to tango” and it is not more likely to occur with the overwhelming majority of individuals on this nation steadfastly opposed.
The prime minister additionally relayed to the president over lunch that his tariffs on Canadian items want to be dismantled if there’s going to be a brand new buying and selling association between the 2 international locations, as each leaders mentioned there ought to be, the official stated. Any commerce “deal” for Canada should embrace the U.S. lifting its tariffs.
Whereas Carney, his crew and most Canadians at residence had been seized with the 51st state taunts and Trump’s punishing tariffs, the president himself was keen to interrupt bread with Carney and talk about international points which are unfolding on his watch, particularly the Russia-Ukraine conflict, hostility with China and the scenario in Iran, the official stated.
The official stated Trump needed to get Carney’s perspective on points that the president is preoccupied with as he tries to fulfil his marketing campaign promise to swiftly deliver the conflict on Ukraine to an finish and tamp down Iran’s nuclear ambitions — two points which are proving to be significantly difficult for the administration.
Trump additionally requested Carney to weigh in on Israel and Gaza — though there was comparatively little speak about that challenge, the official stated — and the Houthis in Yemen, which the president spoke about at some size in entrance of the White Home cameras within the public portion of their get-together.
The truth that the president sought enter from Carney on these information was seen, the official stated, as an “encouraging signal” that Trump respects Canada’s new chief and regards him as a worthy equal.
It is regular for world leaders to debate international coverage points and bounce concepts off each other, and Trump’s willingness to try this with Carney at their first assembly was one other proof level that the day was a relative success, the official stated.
Trump didn’t have a particular ask from Canada on these international information, the official stated.
Prime Minister Mark Carney known as his first face-to-face assembly with U.S. President Donald Trump ‘wide-ranging’ and ‘constructive,’ regardless of Trump saying there’s nothing Canada can do to take away U.S. tariffs.
Whereas international affairs took up a big a part of the luncheon, Carney and Trump additionally spoke about points nearer to residence, together with fentanyl — the obvious purpose why the U.S. slapped huge tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China earlier this 12 months.
The official stated Trump is personally very “conversant” on the difficulty and the 2 leaders had a reasonably detailed dialogue about cartels and the availability chains which are fuelling the drug disaster. In Canada alone there have been 50,928 obvious opioid toxicity deaths since 2016.
Certainly one of Trump’s senior advisers, Stephen Miller, was available for the lunch and spoke concerning the drug challenge as effectively, the official stated.
Carney used the fentanyl portion of the dialog to once more gently press the purpose that Canada is simply not a significant supply of the drug, and the federal government’s billion-dollar border plan has resulted in a significant decline within the circulate of unlawful narcotics and migrants, the official stated.
The newest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Safety (CBP) present 5 kilograms of fentanyl have been seized on the northern U.S. border up to now this 12 months — in contrast 3,040 kilograms on the southwestern one.
Canada’s border progress ought to outcome within the fentanyl-related tariffs being lifted, Carney advised Trump, in line with the official.
It is clear that shall be a dialog for an additional day, the official stated.
Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson says expertise and preparation had been important for Prime Minister Mark Carney to navigate his assembly with U.S. President Donald Trump within the White Home.
Moreover fentanyl, the president confirmed a specific curiosity within the Arctic, the official stated.
And, at one level, the dialog hinged on vitality and significant minerals — subjects Canada is all the time joyful to speak about as a result of it reveals the People that this bilateral relationship isn’t just about commerce but in addition safety and defence, the official stated.
In his public remarks, Trump stated he was joyful to listen to Canada will spend extra on defence and acknowledged the nation buys lots of U.S.-made gear.
“We’re defending Canada should you ever had an issue,” he stated.
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