David Smith: The Guardian's Washington Bureau Chief on Mark Carney taking over from Justin Trudeau as Canadian Prime Minister

The United States' reaction to Canada's next Prime Minister's being described as fairly muted.

Mark Carney's taking over from Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party.  

It comes as tensions with the US are fragmenting - with President Donald Trump igniting a trade war and suggesting Canada could be absorbed into the US. 

The Guardian's Washington Bureau Chief David Smith told Andrew Dickens we haven't heard much from Trump or other officials about Carney's win.  

He says there actually hasn't been a great deal of political reaction so far - which indicates where relations are and how Canada's not seen as a huge priority in Washington. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Canada has a new prime minister. His name is mac
Canney and the Liberals love him. He got eighty five
percent of the vote and in his acceptance speech he
promised to win the trade war. My government will keep
our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect. The
Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves, so.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
The Americans they should make no mistake in trade.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
As in hockey, Canada will win. Writing Talk Washington, bureau
chief for The Guardian is David Smith, who joins me now.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello David, good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
So first, Matt Canny, who is he? He's never been
elected before.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
That's right, Yeah, only a limited political background. He actually
started at Harvard University studying economics. He had thirteen years
at Goldman Sachs's big financial resume he became Governor of
the Bank of Canada and then and for British people

(01:01):
like me, we became familiar with him as a governor
of the Bank of England and he was dealing with
the tumult of Brexit, Britain's departure from the European Union.
And then he went on to be a UN Special
Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. He worked for an
investment firm, and it was just September of last year

(01:23):
he became the chair of Canadian Liberal Party's Task Force
on Economic Growth and now suddenly he's leader of the
Liberal Party and going to the Canadian Prime Minister. So
in that sense, it's a meteoric rise after a long
career mainly in finance and banking.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yes, but it's a magnificent CV, you have to say.
And he's coming with great confidence, you have to say
as well, because he went hard for Donald Trump right
from the start. So what's the reaction to that being like,
you know, it.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Was striking the way Carney really laid down the law
in terms of for his response to Trump's tariffs and
especially this strange motion Trump has been floating of Canada
becoming the fifty first state of the US, and Charlie
made clear that is absolutely not going to happen. I
would say, so far, the reaction in the US has

(02:15):
been relatively muted, and perhaps that's the that's the biggest
insult of all we can throw at Canada. You've not
seen Trump unleashing a barrage of social media posts or
you know, not graciously welcoming the new leader and we
haven't heard much from senators or representatives either. Obviously this

(02:37):
news is being reported in the US media, but yeah,
there's actually not been a great deal of political reactions
so far, which which maybe tells you sadly where where
Canada US relations are and how it's not seen as
a huge priority in Washington.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
No, But at the same time, this has seems to
be the way to actually approached Donald Trump. When he
does his bluster, you bluster him by.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah, And we've got this fascinating role call of world
leaders so far, all trying to figure out how do
you handle Donald Trump? And just for example, a couple
of weeks ago, I was covering the visits of Immanuel
Macron of France and Kirs Starmer of Britain, and both

(03:26):
of them really used a charrat and stick. They gave
Trumper a lot of flattery and people say, you know,
it's like giving candy to a child. And then and
obviously Kiir Starmer produced a letter inviting Trump for a
state visit with King Charles. But then, on the other hand,
there were moments when both Macron and Starmer stood up

(03:48):
to Trump and corrected him on is shues such as
European funding of the war in Ukraine. And then of
course we saw a very different approach from President Zelenski
of Ukraine challenging Trump and the JD vance the Vice
President in the Oval office, and that unraveled and turned
off a sour and ended up in a in a

(04:10):
shouting match. Then, you know, another example is the president
of Mexico has been has been firm with Trump, and
that seems to be working for her so far. We
also have to see how how Carne plays this and
for example, does he push back hard if if Trump
tries to call him the governor uh lying that there

(04:33):
should be an American province. You know, he may early
on want to draw a line there and say, you know, no,
do not address me as that.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Indeed, David Smith, I thank you so much, the Washington
bureau chief for The Guardian.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
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