He comes and says hello to me. I'm not sure what he wants to talk about, I'm guessing he wants to make a deal.
President Trump seemed somewhat uncertain about the purpose of the visit when he spoke the day before Carney, whose Liberal Party recently won the Canadian parliamentary election, was to arrive.
"Don't think it's going to be easy"
It is certainly a tradition for Canadian and American leaders to visit each other soon after an election victory, but Donald Trump has not lived up to it. Instead, he has repeated his message that Canada should "become the 51st state of the USA" and introduced tariffs of 25 percent on goods from Canada, with the exception of oil and energy, where the tariffs are 10 percent. Canada has responded with 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on American products.
I don't think the discussions are going to be easy. It's going to go up and down, said Carney about the negotiations ahead of the trip to Washington DC.
Also on Carney's agenda is the question of whether Trump, like his predecessors, will attend an annual G7 summit that Canada is hosting in June, notes CNN.
In need of an adult
Nothing has been "as usual" between the two neighbors since Donald Trump moved into the White House. Canada, along with Mexico and China, was the country Trump launched his global trade war against. And the American's constant outbursts about Canada becoming part of the USA are believed to have paved the way for Carney's election victory. Actually, the Conservative Party was the favorite tip, but the dynamics of the election campaign changed radically as a result of growing concern over conflicts with Trump.
We don't need chaos, we need calm. We don't need anger, we need an adult, said Carney during the election campaign and promised to repair the ties to the USA.
That Carney has invited Britain's King Charles, Canada's formal head of state, to visit the country is seen as a marker towards Trump, emphasizing the country's sovereignty.
In an interview over the weekend, Trump called Carney a "very nice gentleman" and said he did not foresee a military takeover. Tuesday's visit begins at 17.30 on Tuesday Swedish time with a working meeting, followed by lunch.
