Carney tells Washington 'stop trying to be tough'

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told US President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday to "stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough", as he pushed back against a fresh wave of attacks from Washington.

Carney said trade talks with the United States could resume if Washington became serious about negotiations, but he also accused the US of pursuing terms that could leave Canadian industries "gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out".

"When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions," he said. "It's not constructive, but that's their democracy."

His comments came during a fresh barrage from Washington since trade talks collapsed on Aug 21. Trump has moved to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America" and taunted Canada on social media, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada could not go "tit for tat" with an economy 13 times larger.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also mocked the Canadian military online, posting an image on Monday of two female cadets at a British Columbia training center with the words "this is real" and a Canadian flag. Carney called the post "beneath their office". The Pentagon stood by it on Tuesday, saying, "The X post speaks for itself."

Bessent fired back on Fox News, saying Carney had received a "verbal beatdown" from him and Hegseth. Responding to Carney's call for the administration to stop "throwing shade" and return to serious negotiations, Bessent said, "Well, he was the one who said we were at war."

Carney said the US approach in the talks would have left Canadian industries effectively as subsidiaries of US companies or imposed terms under which they would be "gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out".

"We're not going to accept those terms," he said.

Washington sought an "uncompetitive" deal for key industries, including autos, while pushing changes affecting French-language and cultural protections, he said, adding that any of those issues was enough to block an agreement.

In addition, the US sought limits on Canada's future trade deals, Carney said.

"Canada is a sovereign state. We will strike free trade deals with the countries we wish to strike free trade deals."

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said Carney told labor leaders on Tuesday that they could not expect relations with the US to "go back to normal any time soon", calling the current situation "a new normal that we have to get adjusted to".

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA