Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney apologizes to Donald Trump

Argument with Trump

Canada’s Prime Minister: “The President was offended”

A Canadian commercial makes Donald Trump angry. Now Canada’s Prime Minister is seeking direct talks with the US President.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has apologized to US President Donald Trump for a commercial against his tariff policy. He made the apology privately to Trump at a dinner on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in South Korea. Carney said this to journalists on Saturday at the end of the summit, confirming statements made by the US President on Friday. “I apologized to the president. The president was offended,” he said.

He also offered Trump to resume the interrupted trade negotiations. “We are ready to agree an even better trade deal for Canada and the United States,” Carney said.

The commercial was commissioned by Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford. Carney now explained that he discussed the spot with Ford before it was broadcast and spoke out against its use.

Carney also described his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea as a “turning point” in the relations between the two countries. Sensitive issues were also raised at the meeting, Carney said. “We have now found a way to address the current problems. Overall, our discussions were constructive,” he said.

These were the first official talks between the two countries since 2017. Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have been extremely tense in recent years. At the same time, both countries are in the sights of US President Donald Trump’s drastic tariff policy.

“I have directed our ministers and officials to work together to find solutions to the current challenges and to identify areas for collaboration and growth,” Carney continued. He also emphasized that he had accepted an invitation from Xi to visit China next year.

Xi told Carney at the meeting on Friday: “With joint efforts from both sides, China-Canadian relations have recently recovered.” China is ready to work with Canada “to put China-Canadian relations back on the right track,” the Chinese leader added.