Trump, newly minted Canada PM Mark Carney share phone call

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Mr. Trudeau as Canada’s leader and the head of the Liberal Party, is at the start of a five-week campaign. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday (March 28, 2025) that his first call with new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was “extremely productive” and Mr. Carney said talks on a new relationship will begin after the Canadian election next month.

The call came as Mr. Trump has declared a trade war on Canada and has threatened to use economic coercion to make Canada the 51st U.S. state, a position that has infuriated Canadians. Mr. Trump avoided any mention of that in his social media post.

The U.S. President, in his post, said the two sides “agree on many things and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada.”

Mr. Trump later called the Prime Minister by his first name Mark. He didn’t refer to the Prime Minister as Governor as he did with Mr. Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau.

“We are going to end up with a very good relationship with Canada,” Mr. Trump said. “I think things are going to work out very well between Canada and the United States.”

Mr. Carney’s office said in a statement they will begin comprehensive negotiations for a “new economic and security relationship” immediately after the Canadian election on April 28.

Mr. Carney, who replaced Mr. Trudeau as Canada’s leader and the head of the Liberal Party, is at the start of a five-week campaign.

The former central banker was sworn in as Canada’s new Prime Minister on March 14, 2025. It’s unusual for a U.S. President and Canadian Prime Minister to go so long without talking after a new leader takes office.

Mr. Trump ramped up his trade war this week by announcing a 25% tariff on automobile imports. Autos are Canada’s second largest export.

Mr. Trump previously placed 25% tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as on all of America’s trading partners — on April 2, 2025.

Canada has previously said it would retaliate, and Mr. Carney reiterated that in his call with Mr. Trump. “The Prime Minister informed the President that his government will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and our economy, following the announcement of additional U.S. trade actions on April 2, 2025,” Mr. Carney’s office said.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance took a harder line with Mr. Canada on Friday (March 28, 2025), noting that the Canadian leadership is threatening retaliatory tariffs.

“As President Trump always says they just don’t have the cards,” Mr. Vance said while visiting a U.S. military base in Greenland. “There is no way that Canada can win a trade war with the United States.”

Mr. Vance claimed that for decades Canada’s leadership has forced American farmers and American manufacturers to play by an unfair set of rules.

Mr. Trump renegotiated the free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico in his first term. At the time Mr. Trump called it the “most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country, with the most advanced protections for workers ever developed.”

The Prime Minister’s statement on Friday (March 28, 2025) said Mr. Trump and Mr. Carney agreed that Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister of international trade, and United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, will intensify talks to address immediate concerns in the interim.

Mr. Carney previously said he would talk to Mr. Trump if he respected Canada’s sovereignty.

The governing Liberals had appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Mr. Trump declared a trade war and challenged Canada’s sovereignty. The crisis has created a surge in patriotism among Canadians, with many in the country feeling that Carney is the best person to lead the country at the moment.

Mr. Trump previously acknowledged that he has upended Canadian politics.