Carney pushes back on Trump administration claims about collapse of trade talks

Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing back against senior members of the Trump administration who have been claiming his government tanked trade talks in the eleventh hour for political reasons. At an unrelated news conference in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Thursday, Carney said he doesn’t think “appointed, unelected” cabinet members in the United States are experts on Canadian politics. Carney said a deal with the United States that works to the benefit of both countries is still possible.

Tensions between the United States and Canada have escalated since the breakdown in trade talks last month. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was on multiple U.S. news stations this week claiming Canada added “crazy ideas” in the final hours of negotiations in order to terminate trade talks for domestic political reasons.

Lutnick told Bloomberg he asked his Canadian counterpart if they were trying to blow up the deal on purpose and claimed they responded, “I’m not allowed to say that.” Carney says he’ll tell Putin to end Ukraine war if Trump welcomes him to G20 summit Carney also said that he’ll tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to “get out of Ukraine” if they speak at the G20 summit in December. President Donald Trump will host world leaders in Miami for the summit and there are signs he might allow Putin to attend, despite the arrest warrant issued against the Russian leader by the International Criminal Court. Ottawa says the Trump administration’s decision to host Russia’s finance minister at a G20 meeting this week caused discomfort among allies.

Carney says it’s up to Trump to decide who attends the summit but Putin “only understands strength and directness.” He says if he speaks with Putin in December, he’ll tell him to give Ukraine back all of the territory Russia took after its 2014 capture of Crimea and the 2022 full-scale invasion. The United States has barred South Africa from multiple G20 events and Trump has falsely claimed the country is pursuing a genocide against white people. With files from Dylan Robertson of The Canadian Press

THUNDER BAY - Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back on Thursday against senior members of the Trump administration who have been claiming his government tanked trade talks in the eleventh hour for political reasons.