Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump on January 22, 2026, saying Canada “thrives because we are Canadian” after Trump claimed Canada lives because of the United States. Hours later, Trump withdrew Canada’s invitation to join his Board of Peace, capping a public clash sparked by Carney’s Davos speech.
A Davos speech that drew a standing ovation
Carney set the confrontation in motion on Tuesday, January 20, with an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that earned a rare standing ovation from world leaders and business executives. Without naming the United States or its president, he argued that the rules-based international order had become a fiction and that great powers had begun using economic integration as a weapon — tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, and supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.
“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” Carney said, urging countries like Canada to band together rather than face larger powers alone.
Carney had just returned from Beijing, where Canada reached an arrangement with China on electric vehicles and agricultural tariffs, widely read in Davos as a hedge against American pressure.
Trump answers in Davos
Trump, who addressed the forum the following day, responded directly. He said Canada receives many “freebies” from the United States and “should be grateful,” adding that Carney’s speech showed he “wasn’t so grateful.”
“Canada lives because of the United States,” Trump said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
In the same week, Trump had posted an altered map image showing Canada, Greenland, Venezuela and Cuba covered by the American flag, and he has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st state.
‘Masters in our home’
Carney waited until he was back on Canadian soil. Speaking in Quebec City on Thursday, January 22, ahead of a cabinet retreat, he answered Trump directly.
“Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” Carney said. He acknowledged the two countries had built a remarkable partnership in the economy, security and cultural exchange, but added: “We are masters in our home, this is our own country, it’s our future, the choice is up to us.”
Carney said staying true to Canadian values was key to maintaining sovereignty, and argued Canada could show that history does not have to bend toward authoritarianism and exclusion. “Canada must be a beacon — an example to a world at sea,” he said. “It is the greatest country in the world to be a regular person. You don’t have to be born rich, or to a landed family.”
Not everyone in Washington was impressed. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dismissed the Davos speech on Bloomberg TV, saying Canada has “the second best deal in the world” and complaining about having to “listen to this guy whine and complain.” California Governor Gavin Newsom, by contrast, praised Carney at the forum, saying leaders in the United States had sent him transcripts of the speech and that “he stood up.”
The invitation is withdrawn
Hours after Carney spoke in Quebec City, Trump announced on social media that Canada’s invitation to join his Board of Peace was withdrawn. The board, created to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza and billed by Trump as a wider body for resolving global conflicts, had been formally launched in Davos that same day. Carney had left Davos before the launch ceremony.
“Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump posted.
The reversal was abrupt. Only the week before, Carney’s office had said he had been invited to serve on the board and planned to accept, though financial terms — including a payment of US$1 billion for a permanent seat — were still being discussed. Several other traditional U.S. partners had also held back, with France and Spain declining outright.
What happened next
The feud did not end with the disinvite. Trump and Carney spoke by phone on Monday, January 26, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later told Fox News that Carney was “very aggressively walking back some of the unfortunate remarks he made at Davos.” Carney’s office did not immediately comment on that characterization.
The exchange unfolded against a hard trade deadline as well: the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, which has shielded Canada from the worst of Trump’s tariffs, faces a mandatory review this year, giving both capitals reason to keep talking even as the rhetoric hardens.
