Liberal leader Mark Carney said U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to annex Canada during their March 28 call, despite public claims to the contrary.

“To be clear, as I’ve said to anyone who’s raised this issue in private or in public, including the President, it will never happen,” Carney told reporters in Coquitlam.

Anonymous sources with knowledge of the conversation told Radio-Canada that Trump talked about making Canada the “51st state” during their exchange last month. This contradicts Carney's previous statement that the President “respected Canada's sovereignty.”

Carney clarified he and Trump had a productive meeting at the time and agreed to negotiate a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S. after the federal election.

Mark Carney was pressed on whether he was truthful about Trump respecting Canada’s sovereignty during their phone call. Carney claimed both were true—Trump wants to "own us," but still treated him as a sovereign leader. pic.twitter.com/9OKkdxykH5

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 24, 2025

Trump has been more respectful of late towards Carney, not calling him "governor" as he did with Trudeau, and has toned down talk of “annexing” Canada.

The President previously told The Spectator that he prefers to work with Carney over Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, as they have a rapport, established during Trump's first term. 

Poilievre has repeatedly denounced the U.S. tariffs as "unjustified" and is prepared to table retaliatory tariffs if he forms government. Carney, meanwhile, has portrayed himself as an experienced crisis manager and stated that he and Trump can find "mutual solutions".

Canada retaliated against U.S. tariffs last month, and Carney vowed to maintain them until the rhetoric stops. 

The government introduced a 25% levy on $30 billion of American products. If the trade war continues, the Liberals will expand the levy to another $125 billion.

"What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that'll make it easier to annex us." PM Trudeau says Trump's ultimate goal with his tariffs is to make Canada become the 51st state. pic.twitter.com/BGJqIouPW1

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 4, 2025

While President Trump has frequently called on Canada to become part of the U.S., his comments were not made in the context of wanting Canadian resources. He has threatened to use “economic force” in trade disputes—not military force. 

Trump imposed tariffs on Canada last March 4 for not addressing its porous borders and doubled down on similar tariffs for steel and aluminum imports.

Then-prime minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly misinformed voters on relations with the U.S., claiming Trump was serious about annexing Canada, even though members of his cabinet have stated the comment was made jokingly.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed the president was teasing Ottawa during their visit at Mar-a-Lago. “It was, of course, on that issue in no way a serious comment.”

Reporter calls out Mark Carney for dodging earlier questions about whether President Trump brought up Canada becoming the 51st state during their call. Carney starts in English, awkwardly switches to French, then back—still avoiding a clear "yes." pic.twitter.com/G3M6uWft4x

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) April 24, 2025

Carney was noticeably irritated Thursday by repeated questions on the matter by CBC and Global News.

“Look, the president says lots of things, but the essence of the discussion and where we moved the conversation to was exactly what I said,” he said.

“We talked about lots of things, okay?”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied a change in Trump's stance on annexing Canada, saying he still believes Canadians would benefit from becoming the 51st U.S. state.

On Wednesday, Trump said that Canada would "cease to exist" if the U.S. stopped buying its goods, insisting that Canada “as a state, it works great.”

President Trump slams Canada's Conservative leader Poilievre as 'no friend,' prefers facing off with Liberal PM Mark Carney in heated trade war. pic.twitter.com/sP6KV27OX7

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) March 19, 2025

Carney differentiated between the March 28 conversation between government leaders and a discussion that resulted in an agreement.

“At stake in this election is how well we come together as a country,” he reiterated.

“I asked you about this on March 28th after the call, and you said that President Trump respected Canada's sovereignty both privately and in his public conversations. Were you being truthful?” a CBC reporter asked.

Carney confirmed Trump “absolutely did”, facing criticism for dishonesty. Poilievre remained cautious, however, focusing on Canadian sovereignty and economic policy.

The Liberal leader feels Trump's “threat of annexation” stresses the importance of the upcoming Canadian election and the need to elect a strong leader who can stand up to Trump.

Please help me stop Mark Carney — before it’s too late!

Mark Carney wasn’t elected — he was installed by the global elites. And now that he’s in charge, they think they’ve won. But not if we have anything to say about it. While the bought-and-paid-for media slobber over their new golden boy, we’re hitting the streets, digging into his World Economic Forum playbook, and calling out the radical agenda they’re trying to ram down Canada’s throat. This is the fight of our lives — and we’re not backing down. Help us keep our reporters on the ground, our billboard truck on the move, and our message uncensored. Pitch in now if you want to stop Mark Carney before he does irreversible damage.

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