Why Mark Carney was ‘clever’ in his Oval Office meeting with Trump
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Canada's new PM Mark Carney stood firm in his first Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump, telling the President that Canada is “never for sale.”
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In brief:
- Canadian PM Mark Carney's first meeting with President Trump was cordial, with Trump expressing desire for friendship despite his previous comments about making Canada the 51st US state.
- Carney firmly but diplomatically rejected the idea of Canada being "for sale," while Trump remained open to the possibility of removing the border, saying "never say never."
- The News Agents say Carney successfully "walked the tightrope" between respectful and subservient, using carefully chosen ambiguous compliments like calling Trump "consequential" and "transformational."
What’s the story?
Viewers watched in suspense, half-expecting a Zelensky-style ambush to take place, as Mark Carney took a seat alongside Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
But the first meeting between the US president and the new Prime Minister of Canada was mostly cordial.
Trump appeared to want to mend the fractured relationship, describing the visit as an “honour” and telling reporters; “I want to be friends with Canada”.
It was the most consolidatory Trump has been towards Canada since announcing he wanted to turn America’s neighbours and allies into the 51st state - something Carney campaigned vigorously against, eventually changing the Liberal Party’s fate and leading them to a win in the Canadian federal election last month.
He changed the Liberal Party’s seemingly doomed fate and led them to a win in the Canadian federal election last month.
But winning Canadians over is one thing, winning Trump over is another.
Carney stood firm on his position, telling the President; “some places are never for sale,” noting the Oval Office where they sat, and Buckingham Palace as examples - Canada as another.
“Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign… it’s not for sale,” Carney said.
Trump, whilst amicable, wasn’t ready to completely drop the idea of removing what he called the “artificially drawn line” that separates the two countries.
“Never say never,” Trump mumbled - with a grinning Carney silently mouthing to reporters; “never”.
What’s The News Agents’ take?
Carney managed to “walk the tightrope between gracious - yes, but obsequious - no,” in his meeting with Trump, Emily Maitlis says.
“It could have gone the way of Zelensky, except Mark Carney came as a man who was very conscious of his – as Trump would say – cards to play. He knew exactly what he wanted to say to Trump.”
Jon Sopel thinks the way Carney played his cards was “clever” because he didn’t do it “performatively, in front of the cameras.”
“Canada holds a huge amount of US debt - and he was just letting a little message get out; ‘if we were to sell some of this stuff, that is going to screw the US economy’.”
He was also clever because he “did a bit of flattery of Trump,” Jon says.
But, he ensured his seemingly flattering words could be left open to interpretation - calling the President “consequential,” “transformational” and “significant”.
“It's very interesting, the wording that people are coming up with ahead of their meetings with Trump,” Emily says.
“Because everyone understands the need to flatter and everyone wants to remain true to whatever electorate they're talking about at home.”
“My favourite word was ‘consequential’ - meaning you are making things happen. They might be absolutely terrible, but I'll just leave it at that for now. I'm not going to insult you. I'm just going to walk away from that word, and you can interpret it as you want.”
“And Trump seems to be happy with being transformational and consequential and maybe even significant.”
Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.
