Will Trump and Carney speak soon?
Possibly. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said as much earlier this week when asked whether he planned to talk to Carney.
“Certainly his phone is always open to leaders who wish to speak with him,” Leavitt said.
Whether Trump will treat Carney, and Canada, any differently now is another open question. Trump has continued to make demeaning comments about Canada being a leech on the United States and continued insisting it should be a state.
But a de-escalation is not impossible.
There’s some political incentive for Trump to do so — and an economic incentive. Public opinion polls show Americans are souring on the economy, they don’t like Trump’s tariffs on Canada and one survey this week from Quinnipiac showed Trump’s handling of Canada was where he got his lowest approval out of any issue in the poll.
Also, Ontario Premier Doug Ford emerged from a meeting with Trump’s commerce secretary raving about the constructive tone yesterday. The written statement from the U.S. side was more circumspect, but said the countries had talked about Canada’s potential role in advancing Trump’s goal of fair trade, and acknowledged the strength and history of the Canada-U.S. relationship.
