(AFP) – When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the White House last year, President Donald Trump gave him a key and said he was free to use it, but added a note of caution.
“‘Mark, I want to give you something really special,'” Carney recalled Trump saying. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s a key to the White House. You just bring it, they’ll let you in,'” Carney told an audience at the Canada Investment Summit. “And then he says, ‘Maybe they’ll shoot you.'”
Carney shared the anecdote on Tuesday at the gathering of the global financial elite in Toronto where he was pitching Canada as an ideal place to invest. The summit is part of the prime minister’s effort to curb Canada’s reliance on the United States.
Canada-US relations have nosedived since Trump returned to office last year, and the president has hurled a series of insults at Carney, mocking him online as the “governor” of a US state, rather than the head of a foreign, sovereign government. But Trump has also praised Carney, and the prime minister said the key anecdote “sort of sums up the relationship that we have,” indicating it can be volatile.
Carney also had warm words for the president. “Donald, if you’re listening, I am very grateful. It’s a very good gesture,” Carney said, calling Trump “a very good host.” “Just to be clear, if we give you a key to Canada, we’re not gonna shoot you here. We’re gonna welcome you,” Carney said.
© 2024 AFP
