Trump says it’ll be easier to deal with Liberal leader in Canada

TORONTO - US President Donald Trump said he would rather work with the Liberal Party leader in Canada to resolve a trade war he instigated with Ottawa, weighing in on an expected national election in the neighbouring North American country.

Mr Trump in an interview on Fox News on March 18 was pressed by host Laura Ingraham on polls that show the ruling Liberal Party of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead over the Conservatives, led by Mr Pierre Poilievre.

The likely contest comes after the

US imposed tariffs on its largest trading partner

and threatened future levies in an escalating fight that has roiled the northern neighbour.

“I think it’s easier to deal actually with a Liberal and maybe they’re going to win, but I don’t really care. It doesn’t matter to me at all,” Mr Trump said on March 18 in the interview.

The US president also delivered a jab at Mr Poilievre, saying that “the Conservative that’s running is, stupidly, no friend of mine”. 

“I don’t know him, but he said negative things. When he says negative things, I couldn’t care less,” Mr Trump added.

Mr Trump’s comments come after Mr Carney, the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, won the contest to lead the Liberal Party,

succeeding former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

earlier in March.

Mr Carney could call a national election soon, and he has been portraying himself as an experienced crisis manager.

He cites his tenure leading two major central banks during the global financial crisis and Britain’s exit from the European Union as making him uniquely qualified to deal with the economic threat posed by Mr Trump.

Canada has been a top target of Mr Trump in his second-term push to reshape global trade flows and counter what he says are unfair trading practices by US partners. 

The president has hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent levies on most goods – a measure he said was aimed at forcing the countries to crack down on the flow of migrants and illegal drugs across US borders.

Mr Trump delayed those measures for a month on goods that comply with a free trade agreement he negotiated in his first term, but has also imposed steel and aluminium tariffs and also

threatened additional import duties on Canadian lumber and dairy

.

Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs, and Mr Carney has pledged to maintain those until Mr Trump withdraws his actions.

Mr Trump has expressed

a desire to make Canada the 51st US state

and in his interview on March 18 said it was “one of the nastiest countries to deal with”, as he criticised Mr Trudeau’s response to his trade concerns.

Representatives for the Liberal and Conservative parties of Canada didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mr Trump’s comments criticising Mr Poilievre on March 18 were not the first time he has been critical of the Conservative leader, whose party until recently had been ahead in polls.

“Well, I think his biggest problem is he’s not a Maga guy, you know?” Mr Trump said in an interview with the Spectator published in February, referring to the Republican’s Make America Great Again slogan. “I mean, he’s really not, he’s not a Trump guy at all.”

In response to those comments, Mr Poilievre posted on X: “Mr. President, it is true. I am not Maga. I am for Canada First. Always.” BLOOMBERG