Carney to Trump Team: Stop Memes, Get Serious

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday told the Trump administration to stop "doing memes" and start being serious if it wants trade talks to restart, as a Sept. 8 deadline for Canadian retaliatory tariffs closes in.

"When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions," Carney said, according to CNBC.

He was answering a reporter's question about Trump cabinet officials mocking Canada's military online and President Donald Trump's order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America." Asked about the attacks on Canada's military, Carney said it was "beneath their office," the Daily Mail reported.

On the American side, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer shrugged. "It's more their emergency than ours," he told Politico on Tuesday. "There are no negotiations happening on trade right now."

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About $20 billion in Canadian goods now face 50% U.S. tariffs. Carney has said Canada will match them "dollar-for-dollar" on roughly $20 billion of American goods starting Sept. 8 — a step he said his government took "reluctantly."

Deutsche Welle reported the new U.S. import penalties followed Carney's refusal to match American tariffs on China, turning the dispute into a fight over economic sovereignty that other countries are watching.