WASHINGTON: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told US President Donald Trump on Tuesday that his country was “not for sale” as they met at the White House amid tensions on tariffs and sovereignty.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump insisted to the recently elected Carney that it would be a “wonderful marriage” if Canada agreed to his repeated calls to become the 51st US state. But Carney brushed off Trump’s suggestions, saying: “There are some places that are never for sale ... it’s not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever.”

The 60-year-old Liberal leader won the Canadian election on a pledge to stand up to Republican Trump, warning that ties between the North American neighbors could never be the same.

The two leaders began their meeting with warm words, with twice-elected Trump hailing Carney, whose Liberal Party surged from behind in the polls, for “one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.” But while they expressed a willingness to work towards a trade deal to end the tariffs, it became clear that common ground would be hard to find.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2025