Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hit back at President Donald Trump on Thursday, pushing back against the US leader’s controversial claim at the World Economic Forum that “Canada lives because of the United States.”
In a national address, Carney said, “Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership,” adding, “Canada does not live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadians.”
What did Trump say about Canada at WEF?
Trump criticized Carney for being ungrateful for US military protection in response after the Canadian leader used his Davos platform to encourage mid-sized nations to unite against aggressive superpowers. At the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, Trump emphasized that his proposed Golden Dome missile shield would also provide protection to Canadian airspace.
“By the way, Canada gets a lot of freebies from us. They should be grateful too, but they’re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t that grateful,” Trump said.
“Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” he continued.
Carney’s speech on Tuesday drew widespread attention at the annual gathering of political and business leaders. He declared that the rules-based international order had essentially disappeared and said the world had entered an era “where the most powerful advance their interests using economic integration as coercion”.
The comments were particularly notable given Canada’s long-standing economic dependence and military partnership with the US. However, Carney, a former central banker, took office last year pledging to reduce that reliance. Since then, he has signed a limited trade deal with China and begun to introduce billions of dollars in new defense spending.
Canada is also evaluating investments in the Golden Dome system, which the US president has estimated at $175 billion, although a Bloomberg analysis suggests the cost could reach $1.1 trillion. The proposal, which relies on untested space technology, is meant to protect the continent from threats such as ballistic missiles, hypersonics and advanced cruise missiles.
The two nations already cooperate through the North American Air Defense Command (Norad). In 2022, Canada announced a C$38.6 billion ($28 billion) plan to upgrade the system, including a new radar network developed in Australia to detect incoming missiles, which Carney unveiled in March.
