Carney signals he's in no rush to speak with Trump after visit to U.K., France

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 4:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled Tuesday helium is successful nary unreserved to talk to his U.S. counterpart astir the ongoing commercialized warfare betwixt the 2 countries, saying a telephone volition travel astatine the "appropriate time."

Speaking to reporters successful Iqaluit aft returning from a two-day travel abroad, Carney said he's not consumed by what helium diplomatically called Trump's "initiatives," oregon near-daily commercialized threats, saying his main absorption is building up the Canadian economy so that it's much resilient to planetary economical challenges, including the American protectionist push.

Carney said Trump's tariff enactment has "called into the question the validity" of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), and there's a request for a larger speech with the Americans astir resetting the full bilateral relationship, thing that volition lone hap erstwhile the clip is right.

He said the "starting point" of an expected aboriginal telephone with Trump volition beryllium him reaffirming and reinforcing Canada's sovereignty, thing the U.S. president has repeatedly threatened.

"I look guardant to having, astatine the due time, a treatment betwixt 2 sovereign nations that is broad and not targeted astatine 1 issue. There's a wide scope of issues to beryllium discussed erstwhile we bash connect," Carney said.

Asked astir erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau's assertion that Trump is trying to torpedo the Canadian system to marque it easier to annex, Carney said determination are misconceptions astir Canada's resilience successful the U.S. and he's going to "disabuse that misconception."

He said that "Canada is beardown and we're going to get stronger," and that America's commercialized wars with allies would weaken the U.S.

WATCH | PM Carney asked if helium shares Trudeau's appraisal of Trump:

Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., said Sunday that Carney volition talk to Trump astatine immoderate point, but it won't hap close away.

"That speech volition travel erstwhile the clip is right," she said successful an interrogation with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live.

While the president has made a bid of what she called "disrespectful" comments astir Canada, Hillman said Carney volition instrumentality a "businesslike" attack to immoderate telephone with the sometimes volatile Trump.

"We can't power President Trump's behaviour. We tin power our behaviour," she said. "We tin participate into these discussions and participate into this narration from a presumption of assurance and strength."

Outside of preplanned summits, caller premier ministers typically marque a sojourn to the U.S. a apical priority. For example, the past 3 premier ministers — Trudeau, Stephen Harper and Paul Martin — all went to the U.S. aboriginal successful their tenure.

Carney has taken a antithetic approach.

It was his thought to sojourn the U.K., France and past Nunavut connected his archetypal travel extracurricular the nation's superior aft being sworn in, authorities sources told CBC News, a deliberate motion to Canada's 3 founding peoples.

Carney has played up Canada's British, French and Indigenous roots and its continued allegiance to the Crown successful the archetypal fewer days of his leadership, to separate this state from the republic to the southbound that fought a bloody warfare of independency to get distant from the British.

Canada has a "proud British heritage," Carney said aft his swearing-in ceremony. The state is "the astir European of non-European countries," helium told French President Emmanuel Macron during a halt successful Paris connected Monday.

Carney is besides leaning connected Canada's different Commonwealth connections arsenic helium nudges the state distant from the U.S.

WATCH | Carney announces aboriginal informing strategy for Arctic: 

To that end, helium announced an statement with Australia connected Tuesday to physique an aboriginal informing radar strategy from the Canada-U.S. borderline up to the Arctic, to amended asseverate sovereignty successful the region.

He said that the Commonwealth relative is simply a "long-standing defence partner," and Canada tin usage Australia's expertise to assistance get a strategy similar that developed quickly.

"We cannot and should not look archetypal to others to support our nation," Carney said.

"The satellite is changing. Our adversaries are progressively emboldened. International institutions and norms that had helped support Canada unafraid are present being called into question. The United States' priorities, erstwhile intimately aligned with our own, are shifting," helium said.

Carney said helium "respects" that Trump is preoccupied with the border, drugs and high-paying jobs.

He said helium shares those concerns for Canada, and that's what helium volition absorption on.

"We tin springiness ourselves much than thing that President Trump oregon immoderate different commercialized spouse tin instrumentality away," helium said.