U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s remarks at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, responding directly to comments Carney made during a speech earlier in the event.
“Canada gets a lot of freebies from us, by the way,” the president said during a wide ranging and lengthy speech. “They should be grateful but they’re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. But they should be grateful to us, Canada. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
Carney delivered a speech on Tuesday at the annual gathering of political and business leaders. In that address, he discussed what he characterized as a weakening of the post–Cold War rules-based international order, and urged countries to adapt to shifting geopolitical realities amid rising competition among major powers. Many observers interpreted elements of the speech as implicit criticisms of U.S. policy, particularly in light of tensions over trade and territorial issues.
The exchange highlights ongoing diplomatic friction between the United States and Canada, which has surfaced in conversations at the forum as well as in broader discussions about trade, security, and global leadership, Newsweek reported.
Carney warned that the post–Cold War rules‑based order had become a “useful fiction” propped up for decades by U.S. power, but one he argued can “no longer be relied on” amid rising great‑power rivalry. He said countries like Canada had grown accustomed to the predictability and protection of multilateral institutions, but now face an era in which major powers use “tariffs as leverage” and “economic integration as weapons.”
The Canadian leader compared the current time as a “rupture, not a transition,” urging middle powers to develop greater strategic autonomy in areas such as energy, supply chains and critical minerals. He then referenced Václav Havel’s parable of “living within a lie” to argue that nations must confront the new geopolitical reality directly, warning that compliance in hopes of safety “won’t” work.
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French President Emmanuel Macron left the World Economic Forum just before Trump arrived and delivered his speech.
Reporting suggests that Macron arrived back in Paris, France, meaning he refused to stick around and speak with President Trump face-to-face.
Trump blasted European nations for no longer being “recognizable.”
“I don’t want to insult anybody and say I don’t recognize it,” Trump said during his special address Wednesday. “And that’s not in a positive way. That’s in a very negative way. And I love Europe and I want to see Europe do good, but it’s not heading in the right direction.”
“In recent decades, it became conventional wisdom in Washington and European capitals that the only way to grow a modern Western economy was through ever increasing government spending, unchecked mass migration, and endless foreign imports,” Trump said.
Trump then said that issues like energy, trade, immigration and economic growth must be “central concerns to anyone who wants to see a strong and united West.”
Trump’s comments come as tensions between the U.S. and European allies have escalated, after Trump has renewed his ambitions to acquire Greenland and has threatened to impose tariffs on European allies who don’t back those efforts.
“The United States is treated very unfairly by NATO. I want to tell you that. When you think about it, nobody can dispute it! We give so much and we get so little in return. And I’ve been a critic of NATO for many years. And yet I’ve done more to help NATO than any other president by far, than any other person. You wouldn’t have NATO if I didn’t get involved in my first term,” Trump said.
Trump also called out Denmark for failing to defend Greenland and declared the U.S. needs to acquire it.
“In 2019, Denmark said that they would spend over $200 million to strengthen Greenland’s defenses. But, as you know, they spent less than 1 percent of that amount. One percent! There’s NO SIGN of Denmark there,” he said.