Carney fires back at Trump as US-Canada trade fight escalates: ‘stop trying to be tough’

The PM urged Americans to ‘stop doing memes’, saying talks could resume if Washington became serious about negotiations

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Trump administration on Tuesday to “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough”, as he pushed back against a fresh wave of attacks from Washington.

Carney said US-Canada trade talks could resume if Washington became serious about negotiations, but he also accused the US of pursuing terms that he said could leave Canadian industries “gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out”.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” Carney said. “It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”

His comments came after a new barrage from Washington since trade talks collapsed August 21, including Trump’s move to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and social media posts taunting Canada.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said Canada could not go “tit-for-tat” with a US economy 13 times larger, while US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth mocked female Canadian cadets online.

Hegseth on Monday posted an image from a cadet training centre in British Columbia showing two young women in uniform, adding “this is real” alongside a Canadian flag. Carney called the post “beneath their office”.