Mark Carney was a spectator in the White House today as President Donald Trump stole the show once again during the leaders’ latest meeting.
Trump monopolized the 30-minute press conference, with Carney speaking only a handful of times, including to praise his counterpart as a “transformative” figure.
The president was his usual boisterous self, making jokes about being responsible for Carney’s popularity and the “merger” of the US and Canada.
But Trump was also very complimentary toward Carney, whom he called a “world-class leader,” while he also said he thinks Canadians “will love us again” when they learn what the two leaders agreed.
There were no announcements or any statements of substance during the press conference, however, prompting Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre to mock the prime minister’s “White House lunch.”
Poilievre also said Carney “sells out Canadian workers” after the PM told Trump about Canadian investment in the US.
Trump said he would be “talking about tariffs” with Carney “a little bit later on,” an apparent reference to the duo’s planned “working luncheon.”
“It’s a complicated agreement, more complicated maybe than any other agreement we have on trade because we have natural conflict,” he said. “We also have mutual love; we have great love for each other.”
He added: “I love Canada, the people of Canada, and Mark feels the same way about here.”
The “problem,” he said, is that sometimes Canada and the US compete for the same things, including auto and steel jobs.
He even said Detroit had been “emptied out and moved to Canada” and other countries as the auto industry looked elsewhere to build cars.
In response, Carney said: “We are the largest foreign investor in the United States – half a trillion dollars in the last five years alone, probably a trillion in the next five years if we get the agreement that we expect to get.”
BREAKING: Mark Carney promises President Trump to drive $1 TRILLION out of Canada, handing wages and jobs to the U.S.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) October 7, 2025
Mark Carney went for a White House lunch. Canadian workers were on the menu. pic.twitter.com/DSfPp1Y7Go
The duo – or more precisely, Trump – also discussed:
The Golden Dome missile defence system, on which “we’ll be working together”
The US's intention to “have tariffs” on Canadian products, as Canada does on US products, with Trump mentioning agricultural products
Trump's desire to “especially” to treat Canada fairly
Carney doing a “much better job” on fentanyl smuggling
Canada being a “very competitive” country that has “done very well” with China
Near the end of the press conference, Trump also made a surprising comment about the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement, also known as CUSMA.
He said the three countries “could renegotiate it and that would be good, or we could just do different deals.”
“We might make deals that are better for the individual countries,” he added, saying: “I don’t care.”
Whatever deal was agreed would be made “very much with Canada in mind,” he said.
"It's an honor to have the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 7, 2025
... We've had a very strong relationship... We're going to be talking about trade, we're going to be talking about a lot of different things." - President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/Y9Mgwt2EHd
The president also drenched Carney in praise, branding him “a great prime minister” who “can represent me any time.”
He’s “very strong,” Trump said, but “could be nasty, as nasty as anybody.”
“He is a world-class leader, he’s a man that knows what he wants and I’m not surprised to see that he won the election and won it substantially,” the president said, prompting Carney to say, quietly, “thank you.”
The president was then asked “what’s holding things up,” with a journalist in the Oval Office saying: “If he's a great man and you want to do a deal with Canada, why aren't you?”
Trump’s response got the entire room laughing.
“Because I want to be a great man, too,” he said.
