Four days after winning his first elected office and leading the Liberal Party as it held onto power, Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out a timetable and a broad legislative agenda for his new government.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on election night.Credit…Cole Burston for The New York Times
At a news conference on Friday, Mr. Carney’s big announcement was that he would head to Washington on Tuesday to open negotiations with President Trump on economic and trade issues. The United States’ 25 percent tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles, steel and aluminum had, of course, loomed large during the campaign.
[Read: Canada’s Prime Minister to Visit Trump Amid Trade Battle]
And on Election Day, the U.S. president had once again repeated his vow to annex Canada as the 51st state.
[Read: Even on Canada’s Election Day, Trump Again Insists Country Should Join U.S.]
But Mr. Carney said that when he spoke with Mr. Trump the day after the election, Canada’s sovereignty had not come up.
And Mr. Trump publicly praised the prime minister, calling him “a very nice gentleman.” But he also said that Mr. Carney and his main opponent, Pierre Poilievre, both “hated Trump” during the campaign.