Prime Minister Mark Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday in a highly anticipated face-off at the White House.
It was their first in-person meeting since Canada’s election amid a tense trade war between the two countries.
When a reporter asked Trump if he was still serious about Canada becoming a state, Trump repeated his usual rhetoric.
Carney responded by saying "As you know from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale."
CTV Political Analyst Scott Reid, told AM800's The Shift with guest host Kyle Horner, that he believes Carney hit all the right notes during the Oval Office exchange.
"It was a pretty constructive meeting, and a real political success for Mark Carney, which makes it an important success for Canada without trying to sound partisan, but seriously, the national interest is riding on this situation," Reid said. "I think it was a big success. We knew he was going to get hit with 51st state, and you knew he was going to have to stand firm, he did."
During his post meeting news conference, Carney was asked if he is heading back to Ottawa with any tangible progress on ending the trade war.
Carney told reporters that there were "very comprehensive and tangible discussions" and that they did "make progress".
Reid wonders if there was something more encouraging said in the meeting than the prime minister was letting on.
"If you heard something you liked, you don't want to run out and leave the impression to the people of Windsor as an example, that the calvary is going to come charging over the hill any minute now, because you can't deliver on that, and you have no idea if Donald Trump saying a positive thing at 2 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, is going to bear any resemblance to what he does Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday," Reid said.
Reid says the reality is that Trump believes in his tariff policy, but added Tuesday's meeting hopefully moved Canada one step closer to the tariffs being removed.
"It's going to be tough on Windsor, it's going to be tough on Oshawa, it's going to be tough on St. Thomas, it just is," said Reid. "I think, nobody wants to hear this, I think a quick schedule is going to be something like six to 12 months, just because this guy doesn't turn around quickly."
Carney said he and Trump agreed to have further conversations in the coming weeks, and to meet again at the upcoming G7 meeting in Alberta in June.
Thank you to President Trump for inviting me to the White House.
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) May 6, 2025
Our meeting today marks the beginning of a new relationship between Canada and the United States — based on respect, built on common interests, and to the transformational benefit of both our nations. pic.twitter.com/B5pSnr4ilo