Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney Confirms He Apologized to President Trump for Reagan Ad Effort
On Friday President Trump noted (off-the-cuff) he was ambivalent to the trade interests of Canada and had no intention to restart discussions. However, Trump also said he holds no personal animosity toward Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for the stupid and antagonistic move they made in purchasing a manipulative television ad intended to undermine the Trump trade position.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed he did apologize to President Trump for the Canadian effort.
GYEONGJU, South Korea, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday he had apologised to U.S. President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff political advertisement and had told Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to run it.
Carney, speaking to reporters after attending an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, said he had made the apology privately to Trump when they both attended a dinner hosted by South Korea’s president on Wednesday.
“I did apologise to the president,” Carney said, confirming comments by Trump made on Friday.
Carney also confirmed that he had reviewed the ad with Ford before it aired but said he had opposed using it.
“I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he said.
The ad, commissioned by Ford, an outspoken Conservative politician who is sometimes compared to Trump, uses a snippet of Republican icon and former President Ronald Reagan saying that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.
In response, Trump announced that he was increasing tariffs on goods from Canada, and Washington has also halted trade talks with Canada.
When departing South Korea earlier this week, Trump remarked he had a “very nice” conversation with Carney at that dinner but did not elaborate. On Friday Trump still said the United States and Canada will not restart trade talks. (read more)
Carney also noted he had great discussions with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping but did not negotiate any trade deals.
Instead, the Canadian Prime Minister emphasized the release of Canadian citizens detained in China and requested that Beijing not interfere in Canadian domestic politics.
The irony is strong.
The current USMCA (CUSMA) trade pact covers approximately 60% of U.S-Canada trade; it is the remaining 40% is being debated and argued.
President Trump’s position is pragmatic. He would prefer to just deal with 100% of the trade sectors in one bilateral free trade agreement; hence, his ambivalence until the USMCA is dissolved.
Canada, on the other hand, is entirely dependent. They demand all trade conflicts be resolved without opening up the USMCA. Again, another conflict. Canada is like the dependent spouse in a divorce arguing for child support payments when the “children” are in their twenties.
The current status is President Trump pulling back completely from discussions with Canada, while the various provincial Premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney agonize over the issue.
At a certain point, when the entire national economic plan of Canada is based on “Donald Trump bad”, and all political messaging internally is to proclaim they have no alternative policy positions, the Canadians might not realize it, but they are confirming complete and total dependency on the nation Donald Trump represents.
What took place in last week’s tour of Asia, makes Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney look very small.
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