WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Prime Minister Mark Carney would walk away “very happy” from their working meetings in Washington – but still sent aggressive signals on trade and described Canada and the U.S. as “natural” competitors.
In a rambling press conference with Carney in the Oval Office, Trump mused about everything from his dislike of former U.S. President Joe Biden to his hatred of windmills — but only offered hints on trade.
When reporters asked Trump why he thought the Canadian delegation would leave Washington happy, the president refused to explain.
“Well, you’ll find out, but I think the people of Canada, they will love us again,” Trump said. “Most of them still do. I assume a lot of them, I think they love us.”
Carney largely ceded the press conference to Trump, who appeared to be in good spirits as he joked around.
The president offered some vague but encouraging signals, but persisted with his inflammatory trade rhetoric and even joked again about making Canada a U.S. state.
As the press event began, Carney again called Trump a “transformative” president who has extracted unprecedented commitments from NATO members on defence spending.
Trump interrupted Carney to add “the merger of Canada and the United States” to the list of his accomplishments.
“That wasn’t where I was going,” Carney replied.
Trump lavished praise on Carney, calling him a great leader and tough negotiator. When a reporter asked why the two countries have been unable to reach a trade deal to date, Trump replied, “Because I want to be a great man, too.”
Trump said the U.S. could renew the trilateral North American free trade agreement. He also suggested in the same breath that Canada and the U.S. could instead work out separate deals — and did not indicate a preference either way.
The president showed no signs of relenting on tariffs. He said the U.S. wants to make its own steel and autos and warned Canada and the U.S. have “natural” business conflicts.
“Americans don’t want to buy cars that are made in Canada,” Trump said.
When Carney left the White House mid-afternoon, the prime minister did not respond to questions shouted by reporters asking how his private meeting with Trump went.
During question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoon, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney had promised to win the trade war, but there is “still no victory.”
Earlier in the day, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that if Carney can’t reach a deal to end the U.S. tariffs, Ottawa should start hitting back hard with retaliatory measures.
“You sure don’t sit back and get beat up by a bully every single day,” Ford told reporters in Toronto. “It’s time to hit back if he can’t get a deal.”
Ford said that if Carney knows something he doesn’t about how talks are progressing, the prime minister should sit down with the premiers to explain.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told reporters in Ottawa in advance of the meeting that she thinks it’s a good idea for Carney to visit Washington “on a relationship-building expedition.”
“A lot of times, these trade deals get advanced because of a good personal relationship between the leaders. They seem to have started off on a good foot and I hope that continues,” she said.
Smith said she’s looking for a “substantial advancement on the time frame to renegotiate” the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or a “compromise around autos and steel and aluminum, and perhaps even softwood lumber.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement to media after the Carney-Trump media conference that she was “deeply disappointed in the president’s failure to de-escalate his destructive and unnecessary trade war” and his “childish rhetoric around annexation.”
“As America faces mounting instability and security threats around the world, we need to deepen our ties with our closest allies like Canada, not damage them,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2025.
— With files from Kyle Duggan and Nick Murray
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
