Former cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland says when it comes to the U.S. and its relationships with other countries on the world stage, it needs to “get their act together.”
Since his 2025 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened several countries, including Canada, with annexation and tariffs on goods, creating an ongoing trade war.
Freeland, fresh off her January resignation as a member of Parliament, appeared Friday on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Freeland resigned after being appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as an adviser on economic development for Ukraine.
On the show, Maher asked whether Freeland agreed with Prime Minister Mark Carney about there being a “rupture” in the world order, referring to Carney’s recent remarks at the World Economic Forum.
Freeland called it a brilliant speech and says the world will be much “poorer” if the U.S. doesn’t straighten up, adding a world in which countries rely on powers such as China is one where human rights and democracy no longer matter.
Carney recently signed a deal with Beijing to import a limited number of its electric vehicles each year in exchange for lower tariffs on agricultural products.
“The world, especially the world’s democracies, will be really much poorer if you guys don’t get your act together,” Freeland said.
“Because a world in which we need to start relying on China, this is not a world where human rights matter. This is not a world where democracy matters.”
Freeland’s remarks come ahead of the scheduled review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, or CUSMA, this July. Trump’s administration has suggested pursuing separate bilateral deals, or even ending the agreement altogether, as options on the table.
In the last year, Trump has routinely threatened to place tariffs on goods from Canada, saying his country doesn’t need them. He has also expressed interest in making the Great White North his 51st State. In recent months, he’s made similar annexation threats toward Greenland.
The president’s discontent with Canada seemed to escalate further last month after Carney’s widely praised speech at the World Economic Forum, in which he warned that the old world order was dead and urged middle powers to band together as larger ones try to pressure them through economic coercion.
In response, Trump said Carney was not grateful, later withdrawing Canada’s invitation for his “Board of Peace” for Gaza and criticizing the country’s recent electric vehicle deal with China as “dangerous.”
On Friday, Freeland said when she was finance minister, work was underway to diversify Canada’s economy, noting the opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline in 2024.
“We built a pipeline, which is very important, diversifying Canada’s economy, giving us access to the Pacific, so we’re not as dependent on the United States, because you’re not a very reliable boyfriend right now,” she said.
She called the situation “really sad.”
“I feel kind of weird saying this not being an American, but America is really great,” Freeland said.
“Winston Churchill was right when he said America does the right thing after trying everything else first. So, could you please finish trying the other stuff and start doing the right thing?”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2026.
Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press
