Despite a recent escalation in trade tensions between the two countries, U.S. President Donald Trump reported on Wednesday that he had a “very nice conversation” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Trump’s comments were made on Air Force One on Thursday, following his departure from South Korea, where he attended meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group. The two leaders had been seated together at an APEC dinner on Wednesday.
“I had a very nice conversation with him last night,” Trump informed the press.
Late Wednesday, Carney’s office issued a statement acknowledging the meeting: “The Prime Minister had constructive conversations on various topics of interest with all participants, including the President of the United States.”
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The U.S. President expressed anger over the province of Ontario’s decision to run an advertisement that utilized an archival Ronald Reagan radio address to attack his tariff policy. He went on to accuse both Canada and Carney of attempting to interfere with the U.S. Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear arguments next week concerning the legality of his foreign goods levies.
Just days earlier on Monday, Trump had a different message regarding Carney, stating, “I don’t want to meet with him.” He further commented, “I’m not going to be meeting with them for a while. I’m very happy with the deal we have right now with Canada. We’re going to let it ride.”
Pre-Meeting Comment Upon arriving in South Korea on Wednesday, Trump posted a message on social media, explicitly saying, “For those that are asking, we didn’t come to South Korea to see Canada!”
Earlier that week, while speaking to reporters in Malaysia, Carney had stated that Canada was “ready when appropriate” to resume trade discussions with the U.S.
