After a war of words erupted between US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the former rescinded his invitation for Canada to join his new “Board of Peace.”
Though Trump gave no detail about what triggered him, he posted: “Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time”.
The crucial move came after Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he warned that the old world order is dead and urged middle powers to band together as larger ones try to pressure them through economic coercion. “The powerful have their power. But we have something, too – the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality,” Carney said.
Trump reacted to this, stating he’d heard the prime minister’s speech and said Carney was not “grateful.” “Canada gets a lot of freebies from us. By the way, they should be grateful also, but they’re not. I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. They should be grateful to us,” Trump said. “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
Canada was initially open to joining the council bu later was more cautious, saying there were still many unanswered questions about its structure.
Carney later ramped up his words, striking a nationalistic tone when he reacted to Trump’s statement that Canada only lives because of the United States. “Canada doesn’t exist because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” Carney said.
Though he didn’t take the name of Trump, Carney was clear who he was targeting. “In a time of rising walls and thickening borders, we can demonstrate how a country can be both open and secure, welcoming and strong, principled and powerful.”
“The arc of history isn’t destined to be warped toward authoritarianism,” he said.
