Can anyone tell me what PM Mark Carney was doing Sunday watching the final game of the World Cup with Donald Trump in his private glass box at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford New Jersey?? There were Carney, Trump and wives Diana Fox Carney—an environmentalist with “pleasingly edgy views” according to one newspaper, and the First Lady of the United States (or FLOTUS, which sounds like what we had in our harbour before they stopped dumping sewage in it)—the star of her very own documentary, Melania).
However in the above photo, the wives were cut out only to show the important people – Gianni Infantino, Trump, then Claudia Sheinbaum and finally (sigh) Carney. Infantino, who heads FIFA, is excited by revenues of $15 billion dollars for FIFA, more than double what FIFA took in four years ago. Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico, and the world’s fifth most powerful woman was there to profile her country as a team player for Trump. And our prime minister whose government spent more than $1.066 billion of taxpayers’ money (or $82 million per game) to host FIFA games in Vancouver and Toronto.
Most Canadians took a couple of hours to watch the “beautiful game” (and cheer for Spain, of course!)– but seeing Carney in Trump’s private box perked up their spidey senses. As we all know, Trump had already put tariffs on lumber, aluminum, steel, softwood lumber and lately had announced tariffs to retaliate against Canadian companies’ that buy from countries using “forced labour.” Now we note that one day after the shindig in the New Jersey stands, Trump has imposed a whopping 50% tariff on any goods from Canada –as a Trump official said, “wine to hockey sticks to cement.” That includes alcohol, beer, dairy products, clothing, toilet paper, Christmas decorations, candles and plastic cups to name a handful. Now Big Boss Trump declares of Canada “Maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs,” for “poisoning” American air with smoke from wildfires drifting into the US.
I don’t think Carney had any idea about the new hits. At the game, when he delicately asked Trump’s minders if he could have a brief chat with the Boss about tariffs, a presidential aide noted,
“Although the president and the prime minister met and they had a one-on-one, it was not a visit to talk about trade and tariffs from our perspective.”
Trump has created a lot of heartache and damage for us with his tariff war on Canadians. In Dec. 2025, Algoma Steel let go 1000 workers – the result of an earlier Trump tariff. In Feb. and March 2026, CTVnews reported that Canada Metal, a major Canadian steel producer in Quebec laid off 140 production workers; Montreal’s Sheertex, a pantyhose manufacturer laid off 350 workers or 40% of its employees because of tariff threats; South Shore Furniture, also in Quebec, has cut 115 jobs as 70% of its products are sold in the US In March, Delta BC Prepac Manufacturing let go 170 workers; the same month Eascan Automatic Inc of Winnipeg that makes robotics laid off one third of its workforce—all due to the tariffs. The BBC reported that more than 100,000 Canadians lost their jobs in the first two months of 2026 due to the tariffs, Andrew DiCapua, principal economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, has warned roughly 100,000 more jobs could be vulnerable to layoffs or reduced hours because of lower demand as the new tariffs are put in place in 29 days.
Really little daylight between Canada and the US
But let’s look at what will not be subject to Trump’s 50% tariff: fish, crude oil, potash and critical minerals are on that list– all stuff we Canadians draw and hew. Before the midterm elections, Trump doesn’t want prices at US pumps to rise and he doesn’t want farmers complaining they can’t afford fertilizer. The war industries and the military in the US and Canada cannot thrive without military grade minerals.
To back that up, Canada’s defence minister, David McGuinty confirmed on Monday that there’s “really little daylight” between Canada and the United States in terms of defence. McGuinty said:
“On the security and intelligence and defence front, from our perspective, there’s really little daylight. We continue to work together continentally. We work domestically and we work internationally at the NATO level…”
With that in mind our prime minister went as little more than a supplicant to the glass box on Sunday. Carney insists that now is not the time for capitulation or retaliation; he dropped our tariffs against the US last August. And he caved to Trump’s bullying on the Gordie Howe Bridge, though everyone knows that Canada paid for building the whole thing. Now the US is imposing a 50% tariff for imports on our liquor and beer, and is demanding all the provinces re-start selling US-alcohol now collecting dust in Canadian store basements. But the premiers of BC and Ontario are emphatic they will not comply.
Carney said in October 2025, “There’s time to hit back and there’s time to talk. And right now, it’s time to talk; We’re having intense negotiations.” And what now nine months later? Later Tuesday, with all the bad news about new tariffs, Carney announced he and Trump “agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks.”
One member of Trump’s cabinet, Howard Lutnick the Secretary of Commerce, had a melt down when Premier Doug Ford revealed that Ontario supplies 1.5 million Americans in three US states with electricity. According to the Toronto Star’s Rob Benzie, Lutnick thought that the lights in New York City might go out, so “in a panic” he was on the phone to Ford immediately.
“We trust each other. We work together. That will not stop…”
David McGuinty, Canada’s minister of defence
But what of our supplicant?
His “elbows up” threat was about as useless as two wet noodles.
He wants to talk. And agree. And sign documents. As McGuinty said,
“We trust each other. We work together. That will not stop in my view. I don’t think it can stop for Canadians.”
By the way, Argentina’s right-wing president and Trump ally Javier Milei didn’t bother to go to the game – he said he was “superstitious” and didn’t want to jinx his own team. Instead he watched from the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. I bet Carney wishes he had stayed home too.
Another ruined dinner party... 
Shattered any lingering notions that I had Carney would challenge trump in any way.
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