Flags fly above the Peace Arch, on the day US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, at a Canada-US border crossing known as the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington, on April 2, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)
OTTAWA — Two weeks before proposed 50% tariffs take effect, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney turned US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric back on him, calling trade talks with the United States “nasty.”“Yes, this is a tough negotiation,” Carney said to reporters in a mix of French and English on Thursday after laughing in response to a question about Trump’s repeated use of the word “nasty” during a speech. “We can change the adjective. You can say ‘nasty.’ But I mean, this is a question of Canadian jobs. It’s a question of the future of Canadian businesses.”
Trump repeatedly called Canadians nasty in a speech in Las Vegas on Wednesday after claiming that Canada and other countries had long been unfairly using tariffs against the United States.
“Canada’s nasty. They are. They’re nasty,” Trump said. “I love the people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”
The indirect exchange about nastiness between the two leaders comes at a perilous economic time for Canada. After refusing to extend the free trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico for another 16 years, Trump signed an order last month to impose 50% tariffs on a wide variety of Canadian products worth about US$20 billion.
