Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has reignited his feud with Donald Trump just weeks after getting back on his good side after stating the world can move forward without the U.S.
Carney, who assumed office in March, made the comments during the G-20 summit that wrapped up on Sunday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
While leaders from across the world came together over the weekend, Trump’s administration boycotted the event after South Africa defied the commander-in-chief by releasing a declaration, despite consistent and robust U.S. objections, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
But Trump’s absence was something Carney used as a way to hit out at the president.
‘This year’s G20 summit brought together nations representing three-quarters of the world’s population, two-thirds of global GDP and three-quarters of the world’s trade, and that’s without the United States formally attending,’ Carney said during a press conference Sunday.
He added: ‘It’s a reminder that the center of gravity in the global economy is shifting.’
When asked by a reporter if Trump’s decision to not show up to the summit would cause ‘damage to multilateralism,’ the prime minister made it a point to focus on who did attend.
‘That’s multilateralism. And the job, I look at it more from who shows up, who engages, who does the work, and who builds,’ Carney added.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has sparked up drama with President Donald Trump again, just weeks after apologizing to him over an advert Trump called ‘misleading’
Trump boycotted the G-20 Summit in South Africa over the weekend after South Africa defied the commander-in-chief by releasing a declaration they did not approve of for the meeting
‘And Canada shows up and Canada engages. I think collectively we made a lot of progress.’
The latest jab at the commander-in-chief comes just weeks after Carney apologized to Trump over an anti-tariff TV advertisement that included remarks made by former U.S. President Ronald Regan.
Trump was so infuriated by the ad, which aired in the US, that he increased tariffs on the country and halted US-Canada trade talk.
Canada is the only G7 country which has yet to reach a trade deal with the US in the face of tariffs.
The advert, which was broadcast during the World Series, used a ‘voiceover’ from fellow Republican Reagan – U.S. President between 1981 and 1989 – saying tariffs caused trade wars and economic disaster.
Created by the Ontario government to hit back at trade tariffs, it used comments Reagan had made in a 1987 radio address about tariffs imposed on Japan, apparently edited out of sequence.
Trump went on to call the ad ‘misleading,’ posting on his Truth Social network: ‘Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.’
Carney, former Bank of England governor, apparently sanctioned the commercial which had been commissioned by anti-tariff campaigner, Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
The jab at the commander-in-chief comes just weeks after Carney apologized to Trump over an anti-tariff TV advertisement that included remarks made by former U.S. President Ronald Regan. (Pictured: Carney and Trump in the Oval Office in October)
Carney (pictured November 17) made it clear Trump and the U.S. is not one of his top priorities right now
Ford has heavily criticized the Trump administration, claiming its tariffs are hurting Ontario’s carmakers and steel industry. The ad was pulled following Trump’s reaction.
Carney then went on to confirm that he did ‘apologize to the president’ although he tempered his apology with a claim that he had told Ford he did ‘not want to go forward with the ad.’
Speaking at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, he said he had apologized privately to Trump at a dinner hosted by South Korea’s president the week prior.
‘I did apologize to the president,’ Carney admitted.
Trump then said he had accepted Carney’s apology but would not be restarting trade talks, commenting: ‘I like him [Carney] a lot but what they did was wrong. He apologized for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial.’
Meanwhile Ford boasted that the ad campaign was ‘very effective’ because it had upset Trump.
‘You know why President Trump is so upset right now? Because it was effective. It was working, it woke up the whole country,’ said Ford.
Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau earlier this year, ran a campaign that often pushed back at the president, specifically sharing his opposition of tariffs and Trump’s suggestion Canada would one day become the 51st state of the U.S.
Now that he’s in office, Carney has focused on trying to steer away from America and not rely on it as much as his country has in the past.
Instead, he has looked toward strengthening ties with other nations, including South Africa, China and India.
According to Carney, following a November 20 meeting in Abu Dhabi with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the country committed to investing $70 billion ($50 billion US) in Canada.
‘We’re signing new deals and finding new investors to fuel our plans for Canada’s economic ambition,’ he said without going into specifics.
‘We’ll expand trade and catalyze investment in increased partnerships across a range of areas from AI to energy in the Indo-Pacific and Europe.’
During the summit, Carney went on to tell South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of the great job he and his country did hosting the G-20, according to a statement, Bloomberg reported.
He also told Ramaphosa how much Canada supports his presidency and that Canada wants to continue to build closer ties with South Africa.
Carney also met with Indian leader Narendra Modi on Sunday
Carney also met with Indian leader Narendra Modi on Sunday as they work to strengthen their relationship after Canada said Indian agents allegedly were involved in the assassination a Canadian citizen of Indian descent on its soil. Modi has rejected this accusation.
At the end of it all, Carney made it clear Trump and the U.S. is not one of his top priorities right now.
‘I’ll speak to him again when it matters. I don’t have a burning issue to speak with the president about right now,’ he stated.
‘When America wants to come back and have the discussions on the trade side, we will have those discussions.’
