Trump dined with Mark Carney amid tariff spat: 'Had a very nice conversation'

Marking one week since the breakdown of trade negotiations with Canada, Donald Trump and Mark Carney saw eye-to-eye over dinner in South Korea.

"I had a very nice conversation with him last night," Trump said of the meeting Thursday while already aboard Air Force One. He did not go into details or open up the possibility of future meetings.

The dialogue took place during a dinner before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, a central part of the Republican's Asian tour. They sat across from each other at a table that also included the leaders of the host country and Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

Asked about the timing, Carney responded to a Canadian media outlet that he had had "very good conversations with all the presidents." His office then referenced the meeting: "The Prime Minister had constructive conversations on various topics of interest with all participants, including the President of the United States."

Prior to the dinner, the American had said he did not want to meet with Carney. The latter, for his part, had shown himself both powerless in the face of the suspension of the talks and open to resuming them.

The trade dialogue broke down after the Ontario provincial government distributed a anti-tariff television ad using the voice of Ronald Reagan. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute claimed the former president's words had been misrepresented, which Trump described as "egregious behavior" for which he terminated all talks.

Although Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledged to remove the controversial campaign, he ordered it to stop airing only after the first two games of the World Series had transpired. Trump described the move as "dirty play," pointing out they could have pulled out the commercial immediately. 

"But I can play dirtier than they can, you know," he warned. Hours later he announced that he would raise tariffs on Canada by 10%.

Senate votes against tariffs

This Wednesday the Senate passed a resolution to end the emergency powers used by the president to impose tariffs on the northern neighbor. Introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine, the measure won the backing of four Republican senators.

The White House tried to avoid the runaway vote, with JD Vance warning that it would be a "huge mistake." It is the administration's second similar defeat in the upper chamber, which a day earlier approved a resolution to condemn tariffs on Brazil.

Both bills require the approval of the House of Representatives, which is unlikely to give them the go-ahead: also Republican-majority, it voted this year to block all legislation against government tariffs until March 2026.