‘A bending of the knee’: Breaking down Mark Carney’s chummy chat with President Trump

Rudyard Griffiths and Sean Speer discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump. They dissect the prime minister’s effusive praise of Trump during their public exchange, arguing that his sycophantic approach contradicts his earlier “elbows up” campaign rhetoric. They examine Carney’s reported concessions, including Canada’s potential participation in Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defence project and the restoration of the Keystone XL pipeline. They also explore how these compromises represent deeper economic integration with the U.S. rather than the promised diversification, and question what Canada is gaining from these apparent compromises.